‘Nada on the comms, Top. Complete 2p. they're reading us, then they're sue taking ther sweet ime answering!” Private Jones moved his arto and fom the side of his Hemet and slowly shook his bead he looked st Sergeant Flew ‘Okay. Keep trying. Rodriguez, Juan = you have pont!” Sergeant Fleur was already striding of down the lang mack coir ofthe canyon ashe spoke, and without word the two young toopers strode forward on the Dounce. Using their jump packs, the pair leapt into thea and landed farther down the canyon, ‘The res of Caters Death Dealers began fllowing their comrades into the canyon. Every single trooper ‘knew from ber experince that the high elf wall made in ideal place for an ambush. Each member ofthe squad scanned every inch of the chasm for signs of movernent, no mater how small, However, the desolate landscape of Pluto appeared a dead and barren asthe grave Eversince they had dopped fom the Lord Nelson they bad been in word ofhurt. Cut of fom the ter squads wo had dropped in part ‘of Operation Cleansing Wave; the ‘simple extermination ass om bag central” mission ht the brass had Sent them on was stating totum ito ‘otal nighimare. ‘The drop had gone taal rom the of. As the squad hid eon ready to inte the drop frm bit, ucky’shot fom a plasma Tug bad hit the vessel and caused it toveer offcourse. By the time the twooper in their M2 Drop Capsules hadjetisoned from the stricken ese they ere over forty Kis off The landing ad also gone badly: Private Matis a been injured as is [M2 tokca dee it fom heal end ofa plasma bug discharge. Luckily for Mis, the Ms bin sto defences had moved the capsule at the last moment. He stuck lucky although he had landed heavily and ‘ras unconscios, he was alive [thd seemed hat Squad Baker of Carters Death Dealers had als traced the attention of every damn tg on this godoraken plane. The squad had hit he ground running bat they hada fight on thee hands. With ‘man injured an ammo running low the only way to get othe reteval “one was through the lange canyon ‘hat Private Thane id jokingly ‘nicknamed ambush alley’. Metis had been hoisted onto the back of| the M9. The Death Dealers always looked afer their on Fleur pale out the digimapper and, ‘once again, checked the eo-ordinates against the map on his suits head ‘up display. Things had boon quite for almost an our now. After intial Iheay bug resistance, things had sccmed to thin out, but he ad Farmed Tong ago that when everything goes quiets just wating forall hello break lose Sarge! Looks like we found bags Came the unmistakable vice oF Private Juan ver the comms inthe Ihlmets of every uooper inthe squadow many Private", Fleur breathed uneasily, instinctively checking his Morita and bringing i up ready to fire Looks ike al of ‘em sarge. Is it t00 late o putin fora tansfer” Witha laugh the yung private broke of the communication. ‘Cut the chater, Private’ Fleur rowed inthis comm a the Mash ‘of weapons fre frm both Juan and Rodriguez began to light up {he cold drkness ofthe Plutonian night. The remainder of the squad began to provide covering fire asthe ‘wo troopers started to slowly walk backwards, fing as they wen, in order o regroup with the rest of the squad. For long minutes the squad poured oun fer rund int the oncoming ‘bug howe. Well-placed shots frm (OBrien took down dozens of the ‘Arachnid centres before they ould get elose enough toatack, but they carved on regardless. The lass of 0 ‘many of thet comrades mean ess ban nothing otis vicious alien After what seemed lke an etemity he bugs cemed to peter out and all that wa eft was a age pile of bag corpses and ots of spent shell casings ‘ling the canyon Toor Hake Two One, his is Charlie ‘Two Zero Actual comme back!” The voice came through the coms like 2 guardian angel, euting through the taciturn night ike a uf ‘Charlie Two Zero, good to hear you! ‘Welcome tothe party. What ook you suys slong?” Feuralmost shouted insides of their belmcis. Ammo was inlet runing low, they were aleady a man oven and they sill had almost a Kick ‘Came in fora litle chop on the way 1 walkthrough bug infested territory. down, bit we are at LZ 305 awaiting Your atival. What's your ETA? Fleurtookaa deep breath and eld it Over fora moment, gathering his thought. “These men and wornen were under “Got ite problem here with lots his command! and he wanted to make oflegshetween us andthe LZ, can't damn sue that they go bck othe ‘ive you an approximate ETA bu lets retrieval boa stfely. They were apes, fy we ain't going to take our sweet but they were his pes! time that's forse, Over! Listen up you apes, wan this ‘Understood Baker Two One, We south ad bythe numbers, no will wit for you as long = we can, showboating or eros, We have to but you had best hurry your buts up get through tha canyon and meet up a5CnC ae blowing thebulge and With Charlie Two Zero ASAP and calling us home, foks like Operation — tme'sa running out for us. Keep Cleansing Wave is over Over and moving, watch the canyon walls and ou” stay fosy and we will make it home in time for chow. Do you gt me, Fleur gathered his squad together. apes He looked intensely at each of thir ‘aces, llaminted by the lighs on the As oe the squad sounded out in a ‘clarion voice! ‘We get you Sit {Cautiously the squad began to move further into ambos alley and ead for home“The Mobile Infantry player wl take contol of Baker Two On, which ‘consists of four MI Cap troopers in M-1A4 power armour armed with “TW-203a Mortis Assault Rifles and sqipped with M902 Frag grenades. The squad also includes one MI Cap Trooper in M-1A4 power amour ‘equipped with a SW-404 Javelin Missile Launcher and M902 Frag srenades. The sergeant is wearing {ull M-LAA power armour and is ‘equipped with an XW-137-A3 Trench Sweeper on is TW-203a Morita Assault Rife, The fil member ‘ofthe squad is a corporal in an MB Marauder suit armed with SW-04 Javelin Mise Launcher, MW- Sixgun Rotary Cannon and a MW- 5050 Twin 50 Avtoeannon and 1W- 228 Uility Claws in Hard Pint 4. The ial member of Baker Two One is Private Metis who i unconscious and is being eared by the MO Marauder suit Private Metis will take o ative parti his battle, but wil ply an important role when it ‘comes to determining the outcome of the ate The Arachnid player should be have for nits of 12 warriors and may use any ofthe Bug Entry Points hat te indiested onthe map to bring ‘onium, Once an entre nit is ‘estoy the Arachnid player may bring them on from Entry point A the tum aterwards, a the bugs ty to ‘oman the acd rast make it fom ane small end of the able to the other, running the unt of the canyon and eveything that the bugs ean throw at them. The player controling the Ml troopers ‘must advance were posible asthe squad is pressed forme, so must tmakea move action every tum. This sill ofcourse mean that he squad ‘cannot rermin stationary, but may se its jump packs iit uses ready ‘ction, taking advantage ofthe Beat Feet special movement as detailed ‘on page 69 ofthe Starship Troopers rulebook. Private Métis is epresented by a small couter tat should be placed With the Marauder. the Marauder is destoyed then Metis isalso counted as destroyed forthe sake of reckoning ‘up victory points “The troopers are running low on smumunion and as such if any ‘of them rolls «natural I ding 2 reaction eat oll 3 D6 again foreach trooper tht rolls a maturl 1 and reat ‘heir “out of ammo” as permanent forthe est ofthe bate. This will -mean that players may have to resort to using grenades ina very tight i “This scenari takes place ina canyon ands such you should use whatever terrain you have at hand to simulate ‘he bleed7 gies until the MI squad is destroyed by the Two One then be wins ‘Aric me {Gout of ammunition fr thei weapon WUCEOTE STANTS yoni hoes the Arachnid Player destoys Baker GF heir armour oF se thet Fr grenades to protect themssves. This ‘ill imi he range of their attacks 1? he MI Player sachs the fi sige - Se ea, nwt ey CSTR soos Zone fl sense of urgency controling the Mobile Infantry squad Otherwise Sets his unit up atthe naw end of themap, upto 5" fom the table edge. For every squad destroyed by the Ml Troopers 10 vitor points Arachnids: The player controling the Arachnids may enter his squads For every MI Trooper destoyed by {rm any ofthe four entry points the Arachnid S victory points I ‘marked onthe mp. As noted above if any units of Aihnids Notes: Though this scenario will aredestroyed they willeame on test the Mobile Infant player to ‘om behind the MI troopers inthe the max it is suggested thatthe ‘Anichnd players next tn. Ifthe duration ofthe game should be no ‘Arachnid player wishes, he may hold mare than six as. 1fany model ‘one unit of warriors in reserve til his fils reaction check (inher words, Private Métis Counter Second tun: etherwise they must all’ rolls natural nd then rolls 3 be deployed at the start ofthe game. natural asain, they are completelytay be an od thing to sy but aid not exaety choose o do Jan Arachnid army for Starship “Troopers - the chose me. To put fat into some context, all rough the development of Starship Toopers, Tas fred up to ull an aesome Mobite Infantry free. tn many ‘miniatures games, have this “thin for humanity's ast stand the hin lin between civilisation and disaster. ‘Thus, the Ml were the perfect choice Forme inthis eam, ‘The trouble was, had o take my ‘um sing Arachnids daring the playtesting of Starship Troopers —and at is when the big stated to ie, Soto speak. Upto this point, had always considered the Arachnid tobe your sua, everyday horde army. Teuld fat have been more wrong. Sue, you could load upon warrior bugs nd charge with al fay towards the enemy. You could amass an impessive looking amy that way. But you would lose every time, Koay tok ane game wo illustrate just ‘how mult-dimensional the Arachnids really were. The equipment options ofthe Mobil Infantry are obvious to everyone who reads the amy list ‘uri took game withthe bugs 0 begin to discover all the diferent level they can operate at~and, more importantly, just how devious they am be in bate. It dawned on me that perhaps they were my kind af amy tera yousan sar sens the able tactics bu a good “Mobile infantry player will make you pay for it quickly: True, your ‘warrior bags ned to get into close ‘combat to do any good but troopers ae equipped well enough to deal witha few swam of those, As an ‘Arachnid player, you can be lot more sneaky than his. Formulating all sors of atl plans my head, 1 began putting together warrior bugs =lotof them. With the imple paint scheme, reminiscent of the movi, Twas ally ale wo Build two bugs {inten mines but the painting of ‘her (sinus drying tie) was moc quicker than that. Inno time a all, 65 warriors were finished and as more bug models antved at the ofl, they were duly ‘aided othe growing horde. Very Soon, had hoppers, ankers and frffes well eprescned in my amy and. a type this, bran bugs Siting on my panting able wating for some atention, Looking ahead a some of the models be toartve for the Arachnid, i becomes readily apparent hat they ‘sll bosome a tly versatile army ‘hat will always koep the Mobile Infutry guessing. By now, troopers ‘ill be used to fending off swarms ‘of wariors bu once you start adding psychic brain bugs, blisters and blasters that can actually shoot back and plasmas that can actually cut range most Mobile Infnty ants (not to mention being able to anitilate an entre squad of troopers with one well-placed shod), you wll soon have humanity onthe run“This means that when tis the Mobile Infantry’s turn, you willbe in reaetion ange and will lose eve ster 0 thei line. Ifyour opponent was ‘wise enough to deploy a ite further Ihaek, thn add aru’ worth offing rm the Mobile Infanty to this but the inal effect wil be the same — shed Toad of bugs wil be all over the troopers and they will not have enough power to repel al of them ‘That is how to win games using warrior bugs alone. Now, if you add othe species tothe mix, you can get just plan mean with the Mobile Ina Keep sar mumter aboveground i Suateiney ral eau Rents one paver a doomed inanihacrssthe got tomenton fring thm to stay ‘SPY Bs dermonstat st lable (hough have sen some very put onthe back lines they deal__‘ethal they are to troopers — and ow ssccessfil 2000 point armis with ith thowe marauders, Theres you uchthey can change an Aacid ‘over 100 warriors inthem) The Keepoftable. Yourcan bring these PIAYS"s tics. Sue, they are “Mobile Infantry have very effective on in tum two from any table edge _°XPenSive tothe tune that three of ‘weapons and when Marauders. jin your deployment zone - including Sore pees Sear opcaring ie gs incredibly teside edges This team youcan Noman ll hopper army (poss ‘difficult. The aim is to get your _get an awful lot of bugs very close at Priority Level 3 and yes, we have ‘warriors ito close combat without to the Mobile Iafantey while ishing ied it!) may be abit extreme so aim losing them all in the process. ‘only those few who stayed above ‘to have 3-6 in a 2,000 point force, ‘ground (don’t expect many of them _SPlit into one or two units. Tmt athe obvious, even {osu Iie Mobily essential, approach but fur more ‘have been deployed a little distance The first thing to remember ~ do not importants simng. Youmust plan forwards, you can easily get into set hem ied needlessly. They allyour wars (and ter close reaction re range onthe second tum, f10 expensive to thw ava ‘combat based bugs, such as tankers) Normally this sounds like a bad idea Comsider keeping them off table, as Ihithe Milena ine nthe tutyou wilt alee pc somany srl os he warn bya ‘same tum. If you can accomplish ‘bugs inside your opponent's reaction Sevsin eae ‘this, the troopers will be swamped ‘range that he will never be able to ‘completely blocks line of sight to ‘ithoo many targets del wih —ilthemall (ae the sam rues), tHe Mobile fan. Despite ther 1 your warors sath nto he ‘few bags wil ib the rea wil arve hough trope ab Marauder Aik nd the Arachniwin anther bate Tishow you how this done Pick Attack tactics. The importance ‘ofthis is that you can keep half Your units off the table in reserve Tobe ought onto the bated ‘anytime from turn two onwards, Keeping your warriors in andy units fie-strng they can always swarm together when you get close and need to avoid reaction fie), place two to four units underground as tunnels.fat movement, do not et hoppers lead the attack, a you will aly, Jose them within a tum. Instead, have them hop about between cover, avoiding the Mobile Infantry tall costs. Jus as soon as your Warior ‘bugs begin to gt stuck in, launch yur hoppers. Their huge movement allows them to leap from cover, strike ata lonely trooper and then fly on tomore cover ~withou ting the Mobile Infantry get any reaction fire at al! Furthermore, you can tse them to selectively assstnate Sergeants and toopers with special weapons, greatly weakening their army and they ean certainly have ood goat Marauders i sed in large numbers. ust be careful to avoid flame weapons (hey wll bring ‘your hoppers down quickly) and ‘Marauders that are not destroyed by your tacks. Agits oat ofenspht ove ese guys, ‘Thee ps points are an aesome flame weapon (D10 in a unit that can ‘number en bugs asthe potential ‘to annlate uooper squads and Maraaers alike) ps fast jumping move, all wrapped up into a package thats only sighly more expensive ‘han wariors, On the other hand, their lame weapon is very short ‘anged and the fetes themselves dic quickly to Monta fie nis the cheapness of Frees tat wins me over. The two golden rules area) keep them out of sight until they ae ready to tack and ) when they attack, make sue you wipe out everything inthe area so nothing ean ‘hoot hack a them, (fen easier suid han done — but remember that lovely DIO stack which you donot have to et nto ‘lose combat for, With thei jump, they effectively havea 21" range (Gump plus range of fame tack), hich can keep your opponent guessing. However, use them to Suppor an attack, ot spearhead it They just donot have the aout ave. The biggest model we have {yet done and wanted at east 0 in nny fore! “There are two schools of thought regarding the tanker bog and is ws in ‘anArachnid fore, You either putt underground as a tuneller or keep it ‘on the surface during the advance. subscribe to both as ether an have advantages. “The fist allows you to sneak up on the Mobile Infany, protecting your ‘expensive tanker unlit is ready to sorface and snk. If pops up close enough toa target, few things ean withstand its close combat tacks and if they are farther away, its ranged attack can annie alan army ifyou have positioned things corel The second method wil ll depend Jon how many Javelins and Pee-wees your opponents Hiclding. A well esuipped Mobile Infantry force ean eal wit a tanker inthe open in 2 ery short space of time. However, his canbe extended by fielding more than one tanker bug and in any eas, itil top your warriors being farted for some tine, allowing item to close distance and deliver the Knockout bow, whether the tanker‘wth Ready) and then stron Ready Jn preparation ofan ME air assault “Tanker bogs ean now move 10" ina Player should have. At300 pois it cur and still ptt fie. shard to fi into any fore less than 2000 points and it wil rarely car ‘That is nto say that 150 points of| itspoimsdreedy. However, even —_prychi talents are worth sifing ifyou do nothing more than keep at though but as most bug players itundergound, that bonus action it Scomo like the enkunced Versions tants oasingle unit can be a game of talents, the brain bg might not Winning ability. As-abugplayer, have everything you need. Ego War you willbe used to acing across the isamother potential game winner, Bate and finding youare just especially when combined wi the few inches shor ofa taget. With anus ation ~race your wari, ‘extra action that need ot be the right down the M's threat and then ‘ase! There ae alsocleverer options remove any possible reactions a5 they 1o use wih this bili, such as getting cose in! plasma bug to fie (wo ations oe time now. I want to get my warrior ‘bugs numbering over hundred (0 ‘ry out the al warior army) and anyone can always use more hoppers However, most of my attention is ‘on the new modes coming out for the Arachnid. The plasma bug is duo arive oon, which can Bast spar practically anything with ts alley atack-1 guarantee this one ‘ill oon pay for itself in mission points. Add to that more firefies and the forthcoming blisters and blasters and you may find an ary ‘hatcan actualy outshoot the Mobile Inf. "The Arachis are far more than simple one tik amy. Reserves, time tacks, tunnels anda wide varey of species will al play into {our favour and tip the balance ‘against Mobile Infantry players expecting afew wariors. Leathe ‘weks ofthe Starship Toopers game snd you wll ind the Arachnid can really work for you. Finding out all the diffrent variations and tactics possible with an army, rather than just Aiscovering the ‘iller combos’ is ‘what this game isall about!_—___— ise, ———— ald Weransiirg ROORERS MINIAT (GAMEBATTLEREPORT, ALEX: Twanted a small force that could pack a large punch, and with the Pee-Wee in there | was hoping to surprise lan with a nuke tothe centre of his forces. I guessed he'd be taking a brain bug and I wanted tobe able to have a go at taking it out with one shot. I've found that putting the officers in Marauder suits increases their survivability and minimises the threat from roaming hopper bugs. The plan was to have each squad man a Reliant gun platform with the Marauder suits and CHAS anchoring the centre, With the force at Priority Level 2 and containing Reliant gun platforms [had to take the Defence tactic, meaning 1 ‘would also have the option on moving first or second plus all, ‘my units would start the game readied, IAN: Having gained a reputation as being the Studio innovator when it comes to outlandish tactics, I didn’t want to disappoint. Alex is the sort of player that you've always got to take seriously. I know he will know every possible option he has available and that he will be tactically solid, ‘but will he be imaginative? Only time will tll, but with this in mind I'm going to try ‘out Blitzkrieg tactics on him (hence the somewhat esoteric name for my bug swarm). 1 Geiihad Pease report sees Alex Fennel {cad his gallant Domingo’s [Ninjas Mobi Infantry platoon against Ian Barstow’s bizarrely named Buggruppe 999 in a 2,000 point battle. Confused? and find out what the Old Bear has come up with this time! decided to design my force like a panzer group, centred around a spearhead of three tanker bugs. Supporting these inthe role of Stukas will be the small hopper units, with light assault guns simulated by fireffies. Supporting this is low quality infantry in the shape of | ‘warriors reduced by the Works & Warriors option. At a saving of 5 points per warrior this gets a Jot more chitin on the table. ‘Commanding this assault force is my version of Rommel, a ‘brain bug strengthened with Enhanced Shield and Enhanced Suggestion, Able to protect himself and drive on his forces. ‘What you might notice is a total lack of tunnelling, This isa huge gamble, but i's not part erm manima ane: of Blitzkrieg strategy so for LUINMLM fofore pucing sme distnse Segeiantieiis AK Teta tage met en ae Tam going ith acompley deployed aad afte gun prensa andthe hugs, topside bug force. AtPriority platforms. The plan wasto yp in caver and towards the lel ani ioyingatAlce unos pipers eaty acio Fiery ganna will probably be making we (Being lower priority level, yhne rsa thet on the of the new reliant models just my forces began the game javelins and trip-hammer were aitle Shale mecsinghe | oaed)tojpuny backwane— rnainaiieeremecems mato choos Deacearhs tonne gon pinto, tactic) chose robe, meaning. a that we wil ighta Battle Line cngogement across the wider ‘sie oas, Tassosee Tet tid pono tate ul my ft ur and Aika wlth 908 peg: make his Mobile Infantry really ‘mobile, making los of use of their Jump capability, and this way he may well be limited t0 bouncing sideways, hopefully into the waiting arms of my hoppers‘on the boatd atthe start of the ‘game, so I guessed he was intending to bring in alot of reinforcements on during his first tum (he was using probe tactics). My small effort at shooting did tell me that the ‘bugs I was shooting at were “Workers & Warriors.’ Given the relatively few models on the board, this told me he must Ihave had a lot of units waiting off-table. IAN: Having started off with, {just seven units of warriors ‘on the table, and set well back, I was pleased that we hhad incurred relatively litle damage, Bug group A has lost three warriors, group B had lost four warriors as had ‘group D. Other than that, my *volkssturm warriors’ were intact. I rushed all of them forward, but that was just the support for the main attack, ‘which now surged onto the table from both flanks, most of it on my left, in order to get straight into the bugs at once, ‘My brain bug was hurried into action well out of sight of the enemy on my right flank, ‘but with a good view of my entice battle ine he was well positioned to use his other action to ‘encourage’ his troops forward. [brought on all three tankers in a tight pack (tighter than I ‘wanted, but because Alex had ‘completely ignored his own left flank any tanker on that side ‘would struggle to get into the action) storming them forward with the use of the brain's CE very effective Co-ordinate rule that allows one unit per turn ‘anextra action. Having also ‘Suggested that another tanker move again, They were right in the face of the Terrans and next turn there would be a lotof melting going on. As a forerunner to this though 1 ‘brought on the two firefry units in front of the tankers, hoping they might get ignored as ‘Alex focussed on thee tankers, while one of the hopper units hhovered into the batle straight conto Squad Zulu’s position, intent on taking out the Reliant and generally causing a distraction. Some bad dice rolling later though the Reliant ‘was intact (apart from one hit from friendly fire) while the hoppers were an incinerated mess on the floor, thanks to the two flamers, Drat. Rather less spectaculatly [brought the ‘other hoppers onto the table on ‘my right flank making use of the acres of empty space Alex hhad given me there. HG ‘ALEX: As suspected, lan had brought a number of models ‘on from the edge of the table, including three tankers, whom he had thoughtfully placed next to each other on my tight in ‘an armoured thrust. I had got lucky with the single attack from the hopper bug and my reaction fie killed them, Time for my master plan. Firing directly rather than in artillery mode (no chance of missing) I sent the nuke straight down, the throat of the centre tanker bug. 13x dl0+4 later there ‘was a huge crater where that bug stood, and his two neighbours were reduced to 2 hits each. Missiles and triple ‘thuds followed and after all of my shooting there was nothing left on my right flank. The left started shooting with the Reliant platform but there Were too many bugs and not ‘enough guns. Even so, with nothing to speak of on my right,sergeant although losing two hoppers to reaction fire from the flank or on my centre things others on, and thanks to some Chickenhawk neathy. looked good: {good dice rolls three units got an extra move, including the IAN: Well, that could have surviving hoppers who hovered gone better. Currently there into Squad Whiskey, killing the isa huge charred hole where my vaunted tanker assault was a few minutes ago. The one thing I hadn’t counted on was nuclear missile, Certainly itwas a brilliant piece of kit selection by Alex. Forme it was a disaster though. 1 had plenty of warriors left on the table, along with a unit of hoppers and the intact brain. However, all my other specialist units were gone, and with it any options other than to storm in as quickly as possible in the hope that the MI firing might let them down. At Teast the brain could drive the‘ALEX: I'd now lost three men from the squad on the left, both flamers and the sergeant. Buying them some breathing room, the lieutenant promoted fone of the two remaining troopers who then continued shooting with the Reliant. 1 a couple of warriors with Reliant fire and finished off the last hopper in my rear area before moving my troops forward to engage the bugs on sy own terms, IAN: [realised that the only way I was going to get anywhere was to attempt to get the occasional stray ‘warrior into contact With one of the Marauder suits or the CHAS and ‘get lucky. Not ideal but never say die. I've seen victory pulled from the jaws of defeat in this ‘game more than ‘once before, and it was possible that with things, looking so clear eut ‘Alex might get complacent ‘As such I surged everything forwards, knowing that we ‘would have to endure a lot of reaction fire before we could gt into contact. Group F surged forwards into Squad Whiskey, killing the trooper but iritatingly the acting sergeant made his saving throw. That pretty much summed up how things were ‘going by this point. Group C also attacked the CHAS who had strayed a bit far forwards ‘and inflicted two wounds on it, getting annihilated in return ‘though by the heavy reaction fire. The danger is that Ihave left everything inside Morita range and a good round of shooting by Alex next turn ‘could pretty much wipe me out, Took ALEX: Bare TS Bugs eh iene Seen ed a alot ny fee sl ave. By the end of my tum only the bern bg we l,i Siked ote abeIAN: Good shooting polished of the last 15 bugs, leaving me with just my undamaged brain bug, who chose caution rather than valour and disappeared back to bug central to report on another failed strategy. ‘ALEX: It was allover by the ‘end oftum 2. Tan had put his three tankers together but because they all entered from reserve they were by definition close enough to be caught in the blast from the nuke, That single weapon damaged the two surviving tankers to the point where the rest of my firepower could kill hem and still eave me enough firepower to neutralise the threat from the right. Once I'd secured this side of the board it was a pretty straightforward job to mop up the workers and warriors as they charged forwards Without doubt Ian was unfortunate Thad elected to take nuke. I think he got carried away with the probe tactic's rule of keeping part ofhis force in reserve. This forced him to move on from the edge of the board that grouped his bugs together. If he had started with one or even two of the tankers on (ses the board and spread out, 1 would have had a much harder time taking them out of the fight. The Reliant platforms performed very well, and even the necessity of keeping ‘wo troopers in each squad adjacent to fie them was not a detriment IAN: Crikey, defeated two ‘months running! Still there's a great deal of value to be taken from this game. Firstly, having chosen to ignore tunnels I should not have bunched my tankers so tightly. Had they been further apart the Pee- ‘Wee would have dealt with ‘one but the others would have been unscathed and almost certainly would have soaked up all Alex’s firepower and still been available to unleash their devastating tanker spit the following turn, Additionally, the potentially very dangerous but fragile frefries would have been in a position to also fre their flames, and with a DIO each they can easily wipe out a squad of M1-A4 power suits as well as damage the heavier MI equipment. It begs the question can the ‘Arachnids do without tunnels? I still maintain that they can ‘Alex set up and fought very ‘well but things would have been a lot more devastating ‘with two tankers running. around his rear areas with ‘enhance movement capabilities ‘thanks to the brain bug. ‘The great thing about Starship ‘Troopers is that you don't end «game thinking that there's nothing you can do to counter What just happened, No tactic is unbeatable, and with so _many options available to both sides you can never be certain ‘what you will face oF how cfficient it will be. Buggruppe 999 will return!—_—— ise» ——— SACS ae SH 1e Mobile Infantry is “The Federation's most versatile tool. Whilst Fleet can devastate an entire region from space, only the Mi can deliver precise strikes against enemy forces, What they do not destroy is often just as important as what they do. This unique mobility allows the MI to adapt to changing battlefield situations better than any other foree. Which is Jjust as well, as new orders can COOLER SIMININ: COB sometimes arrive right in the middle of a firefight. ‘New Orders! provides optional rales for use during games of Starship Troopers, simulating the ever-changing state of, battle, and the possibility of new intelligence being received by a unit's commanding office. Using these rules makes battles more unpredictable and strategically challenging for players, who must adapt quickly ifthey are to achieve their new objectives. Why Risk Receiving New Orders?) ‘There is no doubt that receiving ‘a new mission objective part ‘way through a battle will ‘make the MI player's job ‘more difficult. To represent this, a player that chooses to risk receiving New Orders! is awarded a 10% bonus to the Force Value he has to spend on his army. If t turns out that no ‘New Orders! are received, then itis gamble that has paid off!Ream eT aaa ‘The Likelihood of the MI player being issued New Orders! depends upon a number of factors: 3% The Priority Level of the two forces in conflict 3% The tactics that the MI player is using. 9 The tur in which the ML player checks to see if New Orders! are issued Checking to see whether New Orders! have been received is done via the Listen Up! Roll. This is made at start of the MI player’s tum on the Game ‘Tum of his choice. He cannot, however, choose to make the Listen Up! Roll during turn ‘one — these would not be new orders, they would simply be orders —or during the final turn, as there will not bbe enough time for either side to adapt to the new objectives. For the Listen Up! Roll, the MI player rolls 2D6 then ‘modifies the total according to the factors outlined above (and explained in detail below). Ifthe modified result is 9 or more, then New Orders! have been received. ‘To determine what these are, the MI player rolls 16 and consults the New Orders! Table, flare RMN LO 3% IfProbing the modifier is 0 % IfDefending the modifier TAROOERY 0 is-1 ‘The first modifier to the Listen Up! Roll is determined by ‘These modifiers reflect the subtracting the Priority Level fact that a force whieh is fully of the Arachnid army from committed to the battlefield that of the MI player. For ‘will find it harder to adapt to example, ifthe MI player is a new objective than will one using a Priority Level I force which has Reserves and the Arachnid player a Priority level 3, the modifier GTB TRULEY will be -2(1-3-2). In this ‘The final modifier depends on instance, the chance of the MI the Game Turn in which the MI player receiving New Orders! player decides the Listen Up! is effectively reduced, as he is Roll is going to be made. already facing a more powerful army, Rarer ‘The second modifier depends ‘on the tactics the MI player is using 38 If Attacking the modifier is +‘As you can see, the earlier the MI player checks to see if he has received New Orders! the greater the chance that he will have. Being given a new objective early on ina game is much easier than in the last couple of turns. The MI player should beware however = it is quite a risk to leave the Listen Up! Roll until near the ‘end of the game, as he will have little time to complete his new goal and achieve the appropriate victory conditions. Also, a Listen Up! Roll that isa ‘natural 12° (6s on both dice) always indicates that New Orders! are received, Ifthe MI player receives New Orders! his original vietory conditions will be modified oreven replaced by those of A pair of troopers fom another his new mission as explained unit has managed to survive below. the slaughter that wiped out the rest of their platoon. Now they Tne are desperate to link up with other members ofthe MI. itis determined thatthe MI player has received New ‘The MI player should place Orders! he should immediately tye MI troopers on the board roll aD6 and consult table represent the survivors below to determine what they Each is equipped with standard ‘weapons and armour and should be placed within 2° of the far table edge (the one. furthest away from the MI player's Deployment Are). If possible, they should be placed at least 10” away from the nearest arachnid model Otherwise, they should be placed as faraway as is possible Once positioned, the new twoopers actin every way like the other models under the Ml player's control. They are likely to be very cut off from the rest of the MI ‘troopers and therefore Out of ‘Command. This may be an excellent opportunity for the Ml lieutenant to use the Special Ready Action Retrieval Point. This will give the survivors a fighting chance at linking up with their brothers in arms. Mission Points are awarded according to the mission already being played, with the following additions: 3 Each survivor is worth 50 Mission Points to the MI player if the model is still alive at the end of the battle 3 Each survivor is worth '50 Mission Points to the Arachnid player if the ‘model is killed before the end of the battle‘The MI troopers must now tty to defend these areas and keep the bugs away from them. At the end of the battle, there must be no arachnid models within 6” of| ‘a marker for the landing zone it represents to be considered secured. This measurement is taken from the marker to the centre of any Arachnid models. Mission Points are awarded according tothe following 3€ Ifboth survivors are alive therefore find it difficultto Se atthe end of the battle, evacuate effectively, as one the MI player is awarded would expect. an additional 50 Mission Points As soon as the Clear a Landing Zone! order is received, the 3 Ifboth survivors are dead MI player must calculate atthe end of the batle, the how many zones he needs Arachnid player is awarded — to evacuate his forces. He an additional $0 Mission should then place a marker to Points indicate where each will be. ‘The markers must be at least 9% Each successfully secured landing zone allows the MI player to evacuate up to 500 points worth of surviving models. He ‘gains Mission Points equal to the value of all models evacuated, 3% The MI player gains further “apa may beanytere TS a onthe tela. Each marae ‘Mision ois aul the ‘The Ml woopers receive word Tepresentsa homing beacon for ced below half strength thataborde ofbugs is heading &tricval boat o lock onto. theie way. They will be overrun ina matter of minutes if they do not evacuate. A request for assistance has been seal to Fleet and emergency retrieval boats are en route For these to land safely, the MI player must secure a landing a pt ONI ‘The number of lifeboats — and corresponding landing zones ~ that must be secured depends con the size of the MI force. For every 500 points (or fraction thereof) of MI models on the battlefield, one landing zone is required. A large force will3 The Arachnid player gains Mission Points equal to the value of all MI models that are destroyed 9 The Arachnid player gains Mission Points equal to the value of all MI models that are not successfully evacuated ‘The MI player receives orders to seal as many bug tunnels as possible before the end of the battle ‘The Arachnid player is given all five of the Tunnel Markers (irrespective of how many he already had), and must immediately place these within his Deployment Area. The edge of each marker must be atleast 4” away from any MI models If itis not possible to position all of the markers in this way, then those left ‘unplaced are removed from the game. For the rest of this battle, any Tunnel Markers that ate destroyed are removed from the game rather than being returned to the Arachnid player's pool. Mission Points are awarded according to the mission already being played, with the following additions: 3% Each Tunnel Marker destroyed by the MI player is worth 100 Mission Points 3 Each Tunnel Marker still n play at the end of the battle is worth $0 Mission Points for the Arachnid player ‘The top brass has decided that the bugs are up to something ‘and they need the MI to recon the area so they can figure ‘out what is going on. ‘The MI forces are ordered to cover cevery patch of ground on the battlefield.‘The MI player must try to ‘move atleast one of his, ‘models to each of the Recon Points indicated on the Gather Intelligence Map. A mode! needs only to pass over a Recon Point to “eapture’ it and thereby receive Victory Points for it atthe end of the battle; there is no need for a model to actually end its movement ‘on the Recon Point. For ‘models with the Jump special ‘movement trait, jumping directly over and then away from a Recon Point is a valid way to “capture’ it. Mission Points are awarded to the Arachnid player according, to the mission already being played, with the following addition: * Mission Points are awarded to Each Recon Point that the strength is awarded in MI player fails to ‘capture’ Mission Points is worth a number of ‘Mission Points equal to 5% of the Force Value of the Mi army An unfortunate group of civilians has stumbled into a ‘war zone, The MI forces are the MI player for the following: ordered to try to save them * * before the Arachnids notice Each Recon Point they are there ‘captured’ by an Ml model is worth a number of ‘The MI player should place ‘Mission Points equal t0 5% an unused model or marker ofthe Force Value of the somewhere in the Arachnid Arachnid army: player's deployment zone to represent the three civilians. ‘The full value of every The civilians are considered to cenemy unit wiped out is have made i this far without awarded in Mission Points having been seen and until they move the Arachnid models will The fll value of every MI ignore them completely. unit inthe starting force that survives above half Jy order forthe civilians to be rescued, an MI model mustThe civilians have the following statistics am | s os Ge ‘easal| ex ra Tr Gog EAS ee ee ‘The civilians have no armour save but they do have a dodge save. Each hit thatthe civilian ‘model loses represents one of their number being killed. ‘The civilians do not have any weapons and may never attack. Nor do they have an Alert Status finding themselves in the middle of a battlefield is an overwhelming experience that they do ot cope with very wel. first move to within point blank Zone before the end ofthe Note that if the civilians range of them. Beginning battle, they have been saved. have neither been killed nor on the Game Turn after this delivered to the MI player's ‘occurs, the civilians may ake Mission Points are awarded Deployment zone, they do not two actions just ike any other according tothe mission ‘earn Mission Points for either independent model solong _already being played, with the side. asthey finish their actions following adlitions: Within the point blank range ‘ofan MI model. Ifforany The MI player receives $0 reason they are not within point Mission points for each of blank range, they will become the evans that he sas. Tye M4 player may choose ienmcbilaed uot such tine a Which New Orders! he receives another model moves into point 38. The Arachnid player rom the lst above blank range, receives $0 Mission points foreach ofthe civilians Ss Ifthe MI player can move the thats killed before the end civilians into his Deployment of the batlePMOBILEDINVANTRYGHABITATSIANDIENVIRONMENTS) ‘Translation: Ideas for supporting the Starship Troopers Miniatures Game with various terrain, structures, and other ‘garnish’ 'f you have already yurchased the new ‘Starship ‘Troopers, the Miniatures Game’, I hope you find these ideas usable to enhance your ‘gaming experience. Ifyou hhaven’t bought the game yet, hope these ideas inspire you to finish this text, close this ‘magazine (temporarily!) and 10 g0 out and buy this fascinating “tabletop experience’ called a ‘game, Indeed, what I've put together was inspired from the release of the game itself ‘This game goes well beyond a ‘movie or two. It goes beyond the book it’s based upon. It ‘20¢s beyond the graphic novels and the CGI series that it sunk its teeth into for a rich background. The game ‘emerges from the strengths ‘and detail ofall these sources to form what is building into a very well supported gaming “aynasty" in my opinion. Now, with my opening comments ‘concluded (propaganda? ‘Me? Never!), Pil deseribe ‘my “gaming garish’ made for Starship Troopers, a great ‘game by Andy Chambers and ‘Mongoose Publishing. Ina photo above, you see a fort, It was called “Whiskey Outpost’, and back in late Mare I bought some plastic structure kits made in Russia by Technolog, but offered from various importers like Imex in the US. I think there are many ‘gamers out there that thought as did, envisioned a use for these kits for the game - great and humble minds do infact, think alike. 1 used three large “Platformer” kits to make the walls and com tower, and one large *Hexagon’ kit to make the igloo’ structures. I could mwas > have built it with fewer parts, ‘but I wanted to get the look ‘ofthe movie fort, so [only used the rectangular pieces for the wall sections. A third layer of wall panels could be ‘added fora taller fort, but this ould also increase the final ‘cost. The floor is raised (like in the movie), and is about 1-1/4” above the game board surface. Tused pre-seribed sheet styrene for it that is made for architectural models. It is sometimes found at model and hobby stores (or model railroad suppliers). Iwill also mentionseveral things that will help someone that wishes to make ‘one similar to mine, but due to the nature ofthe kits, many ‘options are possible. ‘The Platformer kit walls that meet at a forty-five degree angle do not clip together, because the kit pieces are made for straight or ninety-degree ‘connections, So they are held at the top with several bent paperclips that drop into the top ‘gutter’ joints. The other thing people want to know is Jjust how the countersunk wall supports are assembled. By looking atthe close-up photo ‘of the wall section above, you ‘can reference the parts used to make the wall to overhang the ground supports. I will also mention here that the plastic floor sheet rests well fn the ledge created at the top on the support feet. I would either carefully measure the floor area to rest upon the feet, or fit cardboard scraps until the proper floor shape is desired (and only then make the final floor piece). The ‘com tower is made using Platformer kit pieces, with added sat dishes. 1 found these in an old board game (name long forgotten). Semi- spheres used for sat dishes are not hard to find, though. For instance, atthe front of most stores are those coin-operated ‘trinket’ dispensers. Follow these simple steps- 1. Insert coin, 2. Take item, 3, Open clear plastic wwo-part capsule and remove trinket, and 4 ‘Throw trinket away and keep the spherical container (heh. Repeat as necessary to attain desired sat dishes. Next, some will notice that the game rules refer to the purchase and use of ammo dumps. Keeping in mind that the cardstock structure included in the game can be used for this item, I wanted a dedicated ‘stocked’ ammo ‘dump. I decided to use some of the leftover Hexagon pieces to make one up. [attached ‘two square pieoes forthe floor, ‘with rectangular one-inch plus high walls. Thought some “toothpicks” at a craft store that ‘were not sharpened at the ends, and used them for poles to hold ‘upa canvass tarp. By the way, the ‘poles’ fit nicely inside the Hexagon joining clips. Fora believable tarp, reach into that sack lunch you just ate and ‘grab a napkin (only you will iknow after the model is done iftwas a used napkin...). Place the napkin on a large pieee of cellophane or aluminium foil and using like a #4 brush, dab ‘a generous amount of acrylic olive drab paint over the whole of the napkin tothe point of soaking it. While the napkin is till wet, hang it over the post tops, forming it around the edges as if gravity has pulled the edges down (as in the photo). When dry (and after washing those messy aren fingers up!), spray with ‘matte sealant, and later put a ‘wash of watered brown ink to age itabit. Another coat of white waiting like a slobbering for here are a few strategic ‘matte sealant will stiffen your ug forthe coming official _pieces ofthe Hexagon kit, new ‘old tarp’ so itean even be ones, Using Old Crow models but not glued to the skimmer. removed as.an option (0s You. again, I spied what is referred Instead, superglue a Hexagon, would ahat). Formy dump to asa‘skimmer'touse as __connector shaped like a supplies, Lused the Old Crow 4 hase unit for modification. ‘plus’ ("+") midway up the Company's accessories (WWW. Luckily, they have just {gun tube Gee photo). Thea folderowmodels.co.uk/) that geleasel an armed’ version ‘clip the Hexagon piece to offer various ammo boxes and ofthe skimmer, which has _it, extending the wings to the crates in 25mm scale guns mounted on the outside new configuration. This also ofthe wings. When we are allows for several other usable Moving onto another fairly done however, they will only features. First, the wing can be easy to do conversion, Twanted he about halfway out on the lipped onto the top connector several proxy TAC fighters, spew" wings. Whats called position so thatthe wing looks folded (remember that the movie version had folding ‘wings while on the carrier deck?). Second, a toothpick section (or similar item) can be slid underneath on the bottom of the wing connector so that a model missile (glued to the toothpick section) can be slung under the wing. 1 ‘got mine from a part-plastic, part die-cast 1/48 scale F-14 ‘Tomeat model. 1t so happens they are almost exactly the size of the cardstock missile template included with the game (1). I went and builtsome clear fight bases forthe fighters, and fashioned some missile-in-flight bases as well (using more “+ fitings). The photo below shows the usage ‘concept. added the triangular ‘wingtip pieces fra “future” look (whatever) and fashioned some tal pieces out of sheet styrene that were glued to the engines (again, doing a ltl salute to the movie TAC design). Something I'm also considering fora future project isto convert another skimmer (an unarmed version) into an escape capsule by leaving off the stubby wings (Get ready to abandon ship, Carmen! Zander has a date with Brain Bug - eww!) Aint, | want to thank Old Crow again for making a proxy dropship in 25mm scale, Itis sitting fon a landing pad made from the versatile Hexagon kits. 1 drilled out four holes in the deck for lights. These ones are actually clip-on LED earrings (yuppers, lashing ones) that are countersunk flush to the deck. I made sure to make them removable in order to change batteries. The yellow is permanently painted (I plan to keep this one the way it is). The decals are custom made, The air tank station at the bottom of the ramp is ‘made using empty pill capsules found ata health food store, ‘The station base is froma CPU cover from a motherboard (I have a combo computer store / ‘game store). When customers see my tabletop games, I refer to them as my “no electricity required’ part of the store! ‘Anyway, the ‘Crow Lander’ as Old Crow calls it, is a stock ‘model other than the addition ofa scratch-made infantry ‘module. This project was a bit ‘more involved because it was totally fabricated from sheet styrene. I never took staged pictures to show the building of it, but the photos basically show a box that is twice the ‘width of the cargo pod included with the dropship. This pod can carry twelve of the Cap ‘Trooper models, if modified into a sitting position, So far,have made six models that sit on the pod benches. That's cenough lazy troopers for now, I suppose. The rest of my ‘modified troopers are “doing their part’ in various “action” poses. I wanted to have some fun and see what was possible with the standard Cap Trooper models, while waiting for the ‘other Mongoose releases (a bunch of which are on the way Theat, at this writing). “Action ‘poses’ were probably the most interesting to make. Some of them were done by swapping the legs around. This required splitting some of the legs that ‘were cast as one set and gluing to the separate single-leg pieces. Twas able to achieve the sitting pose by clipping ‘outa triangle of plastic behind the kneecaps and then slowly. bending the leg over. Gluing this into position allows for the “lazy” troopers. Clipping off hands and re-gluing them 90 or 180 degrees around can azive a subtle look like holding the Morita rifle as if reloading it, For this, [removed themagazine and put it in the free hand while making a few pseudo empty clips dropped ‘on the ground around his feet. Another trooper was made into a prone sniper (an official ‘one is coming I think). These ere more fun to do than I had ‘thought originally, and [ was very pleased working with the plastic material they were made ‘of. My favourite glue to use with the plastic isa “plastic ‘weld’ solvent made to bond acrylic sheeting for display ‘cases and fish tanks. The brand use goes by “IPS Weld-On +#4°, but there are many similar solvent types of cement that should work as well, ve had quite a few comments ‘on how I managed to get the look of a ‘moonscape” or cratered terrain surface for ‘my gaming boards. There are many ways to get various “Tooks’ for the surface that you ‘may want. Some have found ‘out for instance that most spray paints include solvents that attack Styrofoam. If used properly, this can give nice accent to an otherwise flat surface, The look | got however was not spray paint, It was careful use of | a small amount of acetone in a well-ventilated area, If used properly, it ean provide a very nice cratered finish. 1 dipped a brush in the acetone pe ————_ and ‘flicked’ the brush over the Styrofoam sheet above the surface. It sizzles fora minute, and then evaporates. The trick is a little goes a long way, or it will eat a bigger hole than ‘you want, [also noticed that it ‘did a much more detailed job ‘on open-cell white Styrofoam than on the usually better closed-cell version. Since white Styrofoam is softer, 1 brush coated a layer of craft coating over it, which looks and smells like white glue and dries transparent, The brand [used was called Plaid Mod Podge (matte). The Styrofoam size | used was offered in various thicknesses, and was two feet by four feet. Tused‘combination of one-inch and two-inch thicknesses and created a layered topography. ‘Many craft stores carry a very nifty straight wire Styrofoam cuter that uses flashlight batteries and euts angles into sheet edges nicely. I used the ssame cutter to make custom ‘bug entrances that can be used for LZ craters as well. Black paper on the hole bottom and it's a “bug hole’, but change that into a ‘radio-active’ paper and it’s an LZ marker. 1 found the paper ata craft store that ccaters to the paper cut-out hobby, and picked out a nicely “erinkled’ red-orange design that reminds me ofa flowing lava field, Leven taped the paper to the bottom like a double hinge and was able to quickly convert the crater for either game use. hope the photo of it gives enough of ‘clue of what I did. Krylon ‘makes several spray paints that I like to use for my terra boards. One is called “Fusion’ (for plastics) and another is called *H20" (pronounced “H- two-ohh"). The name should be enough ofa hint that it isa water-based latex spray paint and works very well on my Styrofoam terrain boards. One trick I use (fora sandstone! desert look) is to base-coat an area with a dark brown colour and overspray a beige colour top-coat while the base coat is sill wet. The colours blend together as they dry and give ita mottled, varied colour scheme (a bit like an air brush, ‘but done easier). Make sure ‘when applying the top beige ‘coat to use it sparingly or it ‘will overcoat and block the ‘coating under it, without letting ithelp the overall appearance. ‘On some photos you might spot some two-inch eraters. ‘These were from my personal Ogre Miniatures collection (cruise missile craters), but ‘were actually made by me for Steve Jackson Games along ‘with other structures way back in 1992 and 1993. Although these were plasti resin, they ‘would be very easy to make using oven-hardening clay ora like material.Structures are useable for either background obstacles, or can be the entire focus within a ‘game session (as in defence missions). A richly varied list of raw materials ean be used as source matter to build structures for use within games of Starship Troopers. A visit to your local building supply ‘or home improvement store will provide you with a great deal of affordable and durable shapes that can be modified into interesting buildings. For ‘example, a two-inch PVC ‘end cap stacked upon a two- inch PVC coupling makes a convincing storage silo when ted and weathered up a bit. Ina photo you will find three of these silos attached to astructure with some piping. The larger connecting structure is actually made using a four-inch black ABS. drainpipe end cap fited upon ‘an empty 50-disk CD-R “cake box’ (remember that I had a computer store that I could raid?). All that was done besides painting it was to add a scratch-made door at the height of the end eap, reached by a walkway made from Platformer kit pieces. With a litle forethought and imagination SICON “Research Station Zebra’ became operational, as part ofa larger supply base I named ‘Sandbox One’, Other structures are made using. PVC house gutter couplings used to serve as vehicle bays. A downspout coupling ccan be made to hold a gun ‘emplacement with afew added eves of Hexagon material ‘This would be nice to have if'a raiding force of Hoppers decided to “drop in’ for a visit. For one outpost bunker, I used ‘a worn-out smoke detector that bought ata garage sale for 25 cents (US). All that was ‘added to it was a door and a ‘combination antenna/flag post ‘The vent holes were perfect for use as windows. With some added plastic sheeting ‘made into steps as well as a corridor, the included cardstock fort pieces can be enhanced for use within an open base area or used as a defence perimeter. Just buildingmiscellaneous ‘gadgets for general appearances also hhave a game use in that they become either cover or act asa movement inhibitor (for either side). They don’t have tohave a purpose. Remember, this is science fiction, people. ‘You arent required to explain every structure and what it does (although it's Fun to think about!) If anyone asks you tocexplain what a structure does that you didn't assign a purpose to, just tll them that they aren't cleared by SICON for that level of information, Besides, they're a Trooper. “On a nced-to-know basis..." You know the rest. Oh, and if you don't know the rest, you aren't cleared for that information. ‘The designers have made a _planets. Planet ‘S"is a human richly detailed game with a colony witha terrestrial nicely varied amount of options climate, and planet “BT is an for play, but one cannot help Arachnid stronghold, similar bout let one’s imagination run to planet ‘P* and Klendathu abit playing with this stuf. itself. Thus, structures on. ‘There isa desire toputone’s these planets would refleet the ‘own ‘stamp’ ofuniqueness _influence of the current owner within these worlds, or even (human towns and fortifications tomake a world that you ‘on one and lots of Bug Condos can call your own, Sort of on the other). Even before what the separatists did in ‘watching the Roughnecks the movie, but with hopefully series (which Iam working better results (eww!). So let hard to ‘research’ even now- ‘me welcome you to my planets with popcorn), I thought that, "Sand B’. They are in the the various bug types were vicinity of Planet ‘P’, and the too plentiful to be an accident. group is referred to as Sector have now confirmed that “PSB (is there humour in there indeed, DNA alteration and somewhere?) Hmm, maybe custom-designed special- “BS" isa better name. Anyway, purpose bugs are actually the they are fairly straightforward norm, It oceurred to me thata squad leader might have the bad luck to be captured on a ‘mission on planet ‘B'. What if this trooper (Lt. Hanks) was an obsessed fan of dragon fantasy novels like Dragon Riders of Pern and got himself’ well, uh “interrogated”? Poor dragon-lover Hanks lost his brain (and thoughts) to a Brain Bug and his rather focused hobby began to have an effect ‘on the Brain Bug. It then ‘occurred to the “Geek Bug" that ‘even though it knew a dragon was a fictional human idea, it could make it a genetic reality and fill a need for the ‘Arachnid Empire. So on this ‘one planet, a program began to breed a small number of “Dragon Bug" interceptors (or asa few humans eall them, *Can Openers!) and begins field-testing on the humans raiding its world. The ‘purpose would be to have a high-flying fast bug below the ‘orbital Plasma fire but above the ground where the Hoppers fare more of a VSTOL (Harrier) asset. Large, armour-piercing claws and ‘sticky feet’ like that of a Gecko ae its specialty. ‘One can be seen with wings spread on the desert battle board photo, The other “house rule’ came up with comes ‘more under the definition of, “hazardous terrain’. For those that feel up to the challenge, here is a twist on Andy’ ‘Chambers’ flinching rules! ‘Think of these as ‘mousetraps" for units that are flinching into them, Both sides know they are on the table, and both don’t necessarily want to destroy them (afterall, the other side ‘might run into them). I had bbeen thinking, “Now what if there was a minefield or even a “mousetrap’ that flinching units ‘might fall back into or even be steered into by enemy action’. ‘These are the size of the large ix-inch diameter templates.The Hlendathu Bug Trap or HBT (araneae muscipla) The KBT as Sion as bled i eur yp onan Arc Empire sce Atugh behead oe nln Kenai hes ben Cherd on many of he lant he ‘Mca ne coloed Weta he ‘Poort hs plant ‘hehe wh ‘Egat ped om oor Son sntcuemed, Some ass wins agian hve those arte Bran Bus ould hove fund ha he mtn eed ‘ho ol fm severe ‘owing nay be wor mare an Scar soe, th aly fein bo te od sy mae from towing plas snd gs Intute wos bop may aly pat tse tery tin te on even bn asst ey. ‘Whatever method spreads thos large, camivorous plants, it is ecognised that they are deadly to both Arachnid and Human alike. The ground feelers onan adult plant reach ou to encormpassacrcular area of about fry feet across (ara of about six toopers tall), which defines dangerous ground. The ground feces can inflict a paralyzing sing, which temporarily incapaciates the intruder. Next, the thee main-trunk tentacles entwine the prey and begin abone-breaknglexosklcton snapping experience. At the base intersection ofthese main tentacles is a “beak not ‘unlike tat ofan Earth-based Octopus or Giant Squid. The MUI nickname ofthis unique plant iscalled the “Crab ‘Cracker’ by roopers, and is avoided like the plague (usually not destroyed in hopes of bugs geting caught in thm). ‘Avoidance is whats atually recommended for this plant, which ile lone ean cause no harm. Sty out ofits ‘vay, and it wll stay out of yous Opponent (size 3 oes) ‘isparalyzed for one tum (afer he inch movement) sd eanot fie reactor finch, Two atacks by KBT insoquence must mis for ‘opponent to disengagelescape asp. + Hostile to bh sides + Any unit size 4 and larger cannot be hurt and can disengage at-will Not: This unit never inches iis anchored by its rots) ‘Avoided in the il by MI and Bugs alike (when given the choice), this threat becomes deadly whom inching ‘unit (Moe Bug) moves into the 3" radius and grasp ofa *Crab-Cracker’. A “wrestling” mode ensues, ended by the death o by the escape ofthe ietim,Another project I undertook \was to have a simple gaming board that was easy to build and quick to wansport to a “game day’. Idecided to use something that was more durable bouncing around in Aint, sy vehicle than Styrofoam was. Upholstery foam seemed the solution, It rolls up like a sleeping bag, and is easily transported. Painting is easy, as Lused Krylon Fusion (which is flexible on the foam). For colour choice, 1 used Satin ‘Khaki for one side (planet B), and Hunter Green on the other side (for planet S). Spraying with varying densities over the off-white foam colour sives different tints to the surface, thus saving on paint. Remember, I wanted this simple (and I can always do ‘more detail later). Using a more expensive hot-wire tool that has a formable wire, I made a scoop tool that carved ‘out small sections of foam. ‘These terrain features allow for cover, as well as to slightly impede movement. I kept the separated pieces (the donut holes) and used them as hills and mounds. With the addition ‘of some trees for added cover, the “board” was finished. 1 ‘made up two nylon belts with plastic clips to hold the rot together for transport. These ccan also be used to help hold down the ends of the map if needed due to roll ‘memory’ Since the sizeof the map is 30” by 72", it fits exactly on a folding-leg office table that the straps can be wrapped around. Two of these maps will make a gaming area five feet by six feet. To save ‘money since foam can be a bitcostly, H located an affordable version sold at sporting goods stores that is used to put under a sleeping bag for camping ‘outdoors. I suppose if you took your sleeping bag as well fora weekend of gaming you could sleep on the game board (nah...) As stated earlier, for my permanent modular battle boards, I chose white Styrofoam (because it textured, better) in a two-foot by four- foot size. So far, [have built four boards that match at the edges (in thickness, as well as ‘matching topography layers). (One end of the map is meant to have either the “Whiskey Outpost’ or the ‘Sandbox ‘Then it hit me, what about ‘making a map that wasn’t flat ‘on a table, but instead create a vertical map thatthe standard sground-level rules could be used in, When I was a kid (quite awhile ago), [had what was called an “Ant Farm’. Tt was a flat clear plastic framed working ant colony. Anyway, that was my inspiration to build a vertical ‘game board for Starship ‘Troopers. It can be used as astand-alone mission map, or hung over the end of one side ‘of my 4x8" horizontal board (which is in 2°x4" pieoes). ‘This way, part ofa mission might be to eross a distance ‘onthe table, and then take a litle hike downward with a flashlight (and a Morita!) 1 plan to use this as one of my convention play options. It ‘might even be used flat on a table as a ‘horizontal bug ety’. ‘This map is designed tobe the other “bookend’ for my garning table, hanging over the table end and fash a the top tothe rest ofthe board. It is four inches thick, and required a considerable amount of work 10 scoop out the tunnels with a formable hot wire tool. | used two sheets of 2x4” “pink” closed-cell Styrofoam, 2" thick. 1 painted it with Krylon “H20" water-based latex, and ‘made a large decal on my laser printer to finish it off. So, from the MI side you only see two 6 inch entrance holes at the top. When you walk around the table, you sce the other twowas something that begged to bbe built, but time will tll if it thas any depth (pun intended). Sealed to an MI trooper, it is something like fourteen storeys deep, so Lizard Lines will come in handy. The map is meant to be used for Sicon search-and-destroy missions, cleaning out egg caches and ‘mostly exeeping out the players playing the MI ‘Me? Go down there? Are you insane?"), [No one ever said I didn't have a sense of humour. ; & Sa terutst0 gm mene fetegut weet cumin Mn oe ‘bugs are placed where “X’s’ are arenes ee standard rules should work for ed todd Thope you found some of these ideas useful and are enjoying the game, or are perhaps alittle more curious about jumping in if'you haven't tried it yet. Just remember what the dropship pilot sid to the replacement trooper when asked where the Bugs were: “They ate ‘everywhere son, except the ‘damn windshield!” Live forever, Apes!TRANG 3 TOE SHOT ATEN TPT TE ost 28mm scale wargames are written with a certain sort of terrain in mind — typically the ‘green fields of Kent’, with verdant fields, clumped woods, some rolling hills and the odd building. There are many variants on this theme, covering deserts, ice worlds and alien landscapes but the terrain itself ends up being pretty much the same from a nules perspective. We all have this terrain in our collection because it is easy to put together, looks good on the battlefield and feels intrinsically ‘fair’ to all armies, without unnecessarily penalising one or the other. That said, there are gamers who go the extra mile with their terrain, building complete jungles or cities to fight battles that give a very different experience. From the outset, we wanted Starship Troopers to be a very ‘open’ game, where a player's imagination would be the limit, rather than the rules themselves. “This te why, for eiainple, defence assets euch aa The other aim was to quantify terrain, so that you could tell bunkers and weapon emplacements are built directly into the What hid which unit or gave it cover, simply by glancing at the rules system. In other games, you need special scenarios t9 __ table —no need to get down and get a model’s eye view, and field such things and it always feels a bit ofa ‘cheat’ when _then argue about it with your opponent (‘yes, I can see your you do. With Starship Troopers, you can load up on bunkers model’ outstretched arm, so it must be a target’) and other fortifications just by selecting Defence tacties — and your army will even be tourney legal!All this has worked well so far but Starship Troopers is a very organic game that allows players to come up with all sorts of tactics and ideas. That is great as far as it goes but a bit of a nightmare for games designers as we have to ensure there are 1no loopholes or exploits that will ruin the game — again, so far, the game is holding up well but a few posts on our forums have made us realise that there are a growing number of gamers who want fo move away from the green fields of Kent and move into the suburbs and shopping centres. Troopers want to go urban! Because of this, it is worth reviewing the rules for Starship Troopers and clarify a few areas that you will run into when fighting in urban or similar environments Ifyou are reading this for clarifications on playing Starship ‘Troopers (rather than just wondering what on Earth we are discussing here!), then you will already know the rules for Line of Sight, based on the size of models and terrain. However, in multi-levelled environments, models are going to be perched on top of terrain pieces a lot of the time and this can effect Line of Sight greatly. After all, if your squad Of troopers insists on standing on the highest point of the battlefield, then they will be exposed to anyone who wants to take a pot shot at them! Itis fairly obvious but worth clarifying nonetheless. Add the size of the terrain piece to your model's size for the purposes of Line of Sight only. Also remember that Line of Sight < works both ways, so if they can see you, you can see them, This means that a unit on a high enough vantage point will be scen by every model on the battlefield but, at the same time, it will be able to see everyone else too. This is why snipers like high spots to hide... MEASURINGIRANGE} ‘Once models start climbing large terrain pieces, you will be tempted to start angling tape measures upwards when gauging range. Don’t! All range measurements in Starship Troopers should be measured along the flat plane of the table without taking any vertical distance into consideration. If this sounds alitle odd, there really is not much difference in the two methods but this way will result in less arguments (‘but my tanker bug is a big model, and so I should start measuring two inches off the ground!”) BOUNCING TROOPERS ‘The rulebook states that any model using the Jump movement ‘mode can clear any terrain, so long as it is no more than 6”are inherently sexy, However, artificial intelligence in the Federation still has a way to go (the success of the CHAS haas yet to be repeated) and so sentry guns are generally used only in strongholds and on battlefields that expect to see a Jot of short-ranged combat, such as the streets of towns and, cities. The sensors and targeting systems of these weapons are limited in range but can prove effective when sited near bottlenecks. ‘Any Reliant weapons platform can be upgraded to be a remote sentry gun for +15 points. Once upgraded, the weapons platform may not be used by crew, Instead, it is deployed like any other defence asset and is treated as a separate unit, However, it cannot take actions and may only make Shoot reactions, tall. But what if you start your movement on the top of a 12” Note that this is not an ‘official’ rule and should not be used tall building or cliff? in toumaments. But give it a whit! in your games and drop by our forums to let us know how you got on if these rules While using the Jump movement mode, you can clear any prove popula, they may appear in a future Starship Troopers terrain that is up to 6” higher than your starting point. So, release! if your troopers started on the top of a 12” high building, you could clear another that was up to 18” high. This also ‘means that if you startin a trench or pit, the height of a terrain piece that you can freely cross will be reduced by the size of your starting position. For example, if you started in a size 1 trench, then you could only jump over terrain up to 5” in height. You can descend any amount freely while using the Jump movement mode, so you could automatically descend from the top of an 18” high building to the ground. IREMOTEISENTRYGUNS) The director's cut of Aliens has @ lot to answer for still, the idea of remote sentry guns that do not require erew————. ss ————— MAKING)ANANT/HILE OUT, OF/AVMOUNTAIN] ‘m sure you've heard your friends at least once (and possibly many more times) graciously informing you, “You are making a mountain out of a mole hill’. No? Not ever? Come on now. Well, at least you can think some more on that as you read further (sheesh...) The rules for Siarship Troopers the Miniatures Game describes the use of terrain features that can be used for battles, While there are endless ways of making terrain boards and structures so that your troops have something to consider tactically while moving on with their mayhem, in this exercise we will look at one way to build something a bit different. Thit on this idea while performing a tactical sweep of the aisles of a major toy store chain (good enough hint there, or are you still wondering why that ‘making a mountain’ phrase is strangely so familiar, somehow?). Right, well on this visit | was looking for some nifty trees to add to some ‘greened up" gaming boards I was thinking of building. I stopped when | found something interesting sitting on the shelf. Looking back at me was an ‘Animal Planet-Safari Mountain Playset” with four nice fluffy trees included. The trees were possibly of the Acacia variety, but were definitely something to be acquired regardless of the species of plastic they consisted of. Ata price of $12.99 USD, it wasn’t overpriced for what I could use it for. If I figured each tree at $3.00 USD, then it f | | | | | | | | \ ‘meant that I got a bonus hollow mountain shell for the bargain price of a dollar. What a deal- I quickly grappled onto two sets. Briefly, I glanced at the age suggestion on the packaging stated as ‘Ages 3+". Quickly ticking off on my fingers ‘Stone, Bronze and Iron’ to myself, I calculated that the “+” meant the ‘Plastic Age’ and felt satisfied that I met the requirements. By the way, I know what you're thinking right now. You're thinking of “that phrase’, and how it might apply to me? No way. Just forget it, We're moving on nowWhen I retumed from my supply mission, 1 happily separated the trees from the playset Then my vision ofa ‘green’ gaming board was quickly put to the back of my mind when | thought of what could possibly be done to salvage the two tan shells of plastic for Use as gaming terrain. As you can see from the photos, they were destined to be joined together to forma slight homage to the ‘Ant Hills’ of the ‘Roughnecks: The Starship Trooper Chronicles, the Complete Campaigns’ DVDs that I had been viewing for uhh, research purposes. Seriously though, buy the DVD collection. It’s great entertainment, Noting that the two halves are not symmetrical when placed back-to-back, I had to come up with a way to hide this difference. By fiting a two-inch Styrofoam filer in between the shell halves, it helped to hide the different outlines of the pieces when they are closed like a clamshell. The method | used was to trace one shell back outline with a black marker onto one side, and then flip the chunk of Styrofoam over and trace what is actually the same pattern again. With the use of a very inexpensive wire foam cutter (about S10 USD), [trimmed the foam to match the lines on each side (yes, it was a tricky thing, that). Another option would be to do this step later when the two halves are bonded together and then follow the contours with the cutter (but not nearly as much fun, you know). By using duct tape to temporarily join the two halves and the foam ‘buffer’ together, | was ready to fil the gaps and to join the pars into a single shape. I decided to use a can of foam sealant for this, easily found at home improvement stores. As you can see from the photo, even knowing ahead of time that this stuff is very expanding didn’t seem to help much. After allowing enough time to dry, I used a hacksaw to remove the excess foam, And no, I haven't thrown it away, because | might make some terrain out of it later. With the bottom now cut flush, I wanted to reinforce the ‘outside of the Styrofoam and further bond the pieces together. Now the step that I took next might be the hardest to replicate if you are undertaking this project. I had the availability of polyurethane plastic resin to mix up and pour over the terrain piece. I would think that either skipping this step or perhaps using an alternative material might work as a substitute, Paper Mache might just do the trick, as an alternative. Since 1 did use plastic resin however, | allowed some of the overspill to form a bottom flange that would rest on a game table.The next step was to put several coats of primer over the whole of the project. It was at this time that it started looking like a single terrain feature. By the way, I was able to use a computer motherboard static bag (as seen in the photos) as a release for the plastic flange. I also believe I used a bit of spray silicone mold release on it as well to assist in it not sticking. Another step I used in this construction that might be skipped without major side-effects is the part that looks like “snow on the mountain’. I wanted alittle more relief on the model surface, so I added a layer of spray texture that is best known as ‘orange peel’ texture for household walls, The misfortune in this step comes when the final colour is applied. The chalky nature of the texture makes the paint chip more easily with a fingemail strike. I found this out to my disgust only at the end (sigh). My solution was a very thick coat of acrylic sealer to help protect the finish, That seems to be working, but if you ever see my creations at a game convention, 1 had better not see your fingernails testing the surface of my prototype Ant Hill, Justin case, remember to trim your fingernails before going off to any game conventions. ‘Then when someone asks you years later why you always do that before gaming, you can say you don’t remember why (because already tested your recall at the beginning of the article, right?) One little touch 1 added before the finishing paint (and that thick sealer) was to carve out the Styrofoam where the ‘cave’ entrance is cast into the mountain shell. also cut out a similar one on the top shelf level. It adds a bit to the “Ant Hill’ concept. For paint, 1 would choose something that doesn’t eat at Styrofoam (1 use Krylon water-based latex spray paints for my terrain projects). I varied my paint effects by blending at least three cans for a ‘sandy* stone look. If'anyone is wondering what I did with the safari animals, I'll add my standard disclaimer ‘No plastic safari animals were harmed in this demonstration’. I gave them to children. See, you can finish the project and can even have a warm feeling left over at the end of it (although after atime you'll wonder why you get a warm feeling every time ‘you clip your fingemails...) ‘To embellish the project a bit further, I've found that carving up some Styrofoam stalagmites and placing them around the “Ant Hill” gives the tabletop terrain board some awesome ‘gaming depth for units to use (and makes for a visual delight as well), Your MI can ‘jet pack’ their way up to a high point for a look-see around the area. Just remember though ‘what happened to the radio operator in the movie “Starship ‘Troopers’ who was looking for higher ground to get a better ignal. Hoppers like higher ground as well, as we've all found ‘out. Lesson leamed (at least he won’t make that mistake a second time, that’s for sure...)same effect that I received. Using a permanent marker, make a series of sequentially larger irregular shapes ona piece of sheet Styrofoam. I used two-inch thick material for the ones 1 made to complement my Ant Hill. A standard step that I include in my Styrofoam cutting is having several strong cups of coffee (or tea) and having them “assist” in the jaggy shape of the cut (mentally insert smiley here). Additional optional sculpting can also be done to the pieces before assembly by trimming bits out of the sides and top/bottom edges (you might call this ‘nibbling’ at them a bit, but don’t take the term literally, ok?). It's probably 2 good idea to assemble a stack of pieces to see what the final appearance is before gluing them together. For additional gaming functionality, I allowed some pieces to have a horizontal overhang offset so that a trooper gaming miniature for example might have a place to base on at various altitudes from the surface One method of building up a simulated time-weathered (while occasionally ducking Hoppers). sandstone rock formation is to cut irregular-sized pieces out ofa single thickness of Styrofoam material. Ifeach is abit _As stated previously, I prefer Krylon latex spray paints for larger than the previous one you make, a ‘pyramid’ of these __ finish effects (note how cleverly | dadged that whole colour! can be assembled into a usable gaming artefact. While a colour thing). An interesting side note is seeing my “Yank” wood skewer (found at most grocery stores) can be used to _version of MS Word helpfully showing me a squiggly red make a ‘low calorie Styrofoam shish-kebob’, to support the line (for spelling) under “colour” (there itis again!), and finished assembly, I was lazy because [had some excellent _ when it goes ‘over the pond’ the editor's version will move foam adhesive (3M #6070). Besides, lean always add one that ed line elsewhere (I'm right, aren't I Mr. Editor?) later to them if | get into a “voodoo-doll mood” (ermmm, no. I'd already run the whole thing through the spell checker before I read it, so the whole article is in Queen's The first step is to acquire either a sharp knife or I suggest you (Cambridge) English (or, if vou prefer, ‘proper posh chat’) use a battery powered foam cutter. These are very affordable before I looked at it~ Ye Olde English Editor). It somehow and are found at most hobby/craft stores. I'll admit that _ reminds me of the ‘sighing door effects in the Hitchhiker's used my more expensive cutter for some of the work (ithas Guide to the Galaxy, but I digress (sorry). a bendable wire), but the ‘craft cutter’ should work to get theGee Where were we? Ah yes, ‘finish effects’. Well then, Idecided craft sealer called ‘Mod-Podge’. If you add this step, be sure on using four different cans for the rock stalagmites: #2614 to skip past buying the gloss version label. The one you want White Primer (optional), #2611 Gulf Gray (I know, I know, is called ‘Matte-Mat’ (and you thought I was the only one it should be spelled ‘grey’ but that’s what the can says, dang _with spelling problems, eh? EH), Actually, I rather like their itl) (actually, grey is a perfectly acceptable spelling in Oxford package label. It makes me feel like I found my towel and. English, as are words that end in ‘iz’ (such as ‘Americanize’ _V'm safe again (if you don’t get that one, you nced to see/hear! vs ‘Americanise’) — however, we're Cambridge English here read the aforementioned Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). at Signs & Portents, ---- ee err ere dontyerknow - Ye The nice thing about Editor), #2608 Java terrain boards is that Sea Brown, and #2613 the more things you Panama Canal Beige. build for them, the By the way, ‘Google’ for ‘grey or gray’ if you have the time to kill [particularly like the “Bernie Zimmermann’ site for the story he tells). I also now know just why the Arachnids have a hive mind - they don’t have to deal with spelling conflicts! When using this paint, I do more ways you can find of combining the different pieces to add game taeties and break up line-of-sight. Lalso made a few of the ‘rock towers’ so that they combined in different ways. By that I mean that | made a long bridging piece that ean sit directly on not wait for it to dry. game board surface, Instead, I quickly switch or optionally stack cans and apply the next onto two of the other coat with a sweeping motion. Each time, I make sure to hit a _stalagmite towers that are the same height. Toothpicks random area so that some of each can is left showing through. could be used to join the pieces temporarily if desired. Your This method of application also creates a blending effect due terrain is only limited by your imagination, It doesn’t cost an to the previous layer not drying. If you need to, you can go _ excessive amount to make some very usuble terrain boards. ‘back and forth, switching to other cans to achieve the effect And like tabletop gaming itself, it sure can be fun, too. desired. My choices provide for a bit of a rock ‘look’, but with a greater influence towards sandstone, which is my goal. After drying, | usually apply a brush coat of a water-soluble