"Game over!" -- our second 6-player Xenos Rampant Game

   Space Marine dreadnought takes heavy fire during its assault in our Xenos Rampant game

After our first game of Xenos Rampant back in summer of 2024, we decided that six 24-point detachments on an 8'x4' table was too crowded. We said for our next game, we'd try 18-points per player. Who knew it would take us six months to get in our second game? I'll take the blame for that, as I was the one pushing the rules and I never got around to scheduling round two. Well, this weekend we finally got in our second game. A great sign was that three of the six detachments were brought by the players, and I had to provide only three forces.

    Defenders, left (Keith, Joel, Allen from top) advance on Mike S, Tom, and Andy in our 6-player game

On one side, the attackers were Mike S, Tom, and Andy. Trying to hold them off were Keith, Joel, and Allen. I made sure the players who were bringing their own forces sent me their army lists because I was worried about min-maxing, which I'd heard Xenos Rampant could be susceptible to. In particular, I was concerned about the Attack Vehicles. The rules already limit each player detachment to one Attack vehicle, and any one unit to no more than 50% of the army points. I need not have worried because the two most expensive vehicles in the game, Keith's and Andy's, were driven back by their opponents and did not have a major positive effect for their side. Ordinary rank and file -- particularly those armed with heavy weapons -- seemed to rule the evening.

    Allen's Anadorans advance through the blue alien forest to firing positions against Andy's troops

All three forces I was providing, the Bronze Legion (Tom), Terminators (Joel), and the Anadorans (Allen) had three units of six points each. Both Keith and Andy's forces experimented with a handful of cheaper troops to support the more expensive ones. Mike S was trying out a Recon Infantry sniper team, and they proved very effective in his repelling of Keith's assault. I was seated at one of the ends of the table, so didn't see the nitty gritty of their game. Mike admitted that his Recon Infantry activated to shoot way above average (7+ on 2d6, failing only once I believe he said). On the other hand, I had a ringside seat for Allen's dismembering of Andy's Space Marines force. 

    Andy's Space Marines begin their advance against Allen's troops, unaware of the drubbing in store!

Allen's two units of heavy infantry had "Heavy Weapons," which score two hits for every "six" rolled to hit. It seemed like every turn, Allen's roll of 10 dice included at least three "6's" -- sometimes even four! Mike said it was similar in his battle. He basically hunkered down in terrain, soaking up the +1 to Armor rough terrain gives, and fired at Keith's forces while he moved up. In Andy and Allen's encounter, it was a similar paradigm. Allen adopted a defensive position while Andy tried to be aggressive and assault his opponent's lines. Of course, that begs the question: Is defense too tough under these rules? In the middle of the board, Joel was very tentative in his advance, with his Terminators staying behind cover and out of line of fire of Tom's Bronze Legion. Tom tried to advance and get line of sight, but Joel would duck back, keeping the alien forest or similar terrain between them. Eventually, Tom did get line of sight, and began putting hits on the machines and their forces.

    Keith's tank leads his space marine force against Mike's troops hunkered down & waiting in terrain

Keith's aggressive advance was the first to be shattered by an opponent. On the opposite corner of the table, Andy's was the second to admit defeat and pull back. Joel finally admitted that Tom's Bronze Legion had worn enough of his units down below half strength that he would have little chance of victory. So, after only about two hours, we ended up calling the game. I continue to be surprised at how fast the "Rampant" series of games play. Last week's Lion Rampant Dark Ages game ended early, too. Not that it is a bad thing -- heck no! About a year ago, we moved our Sunday evening start time up from 7pnm to 6pm specifically because we wanted to finish earlier. So, a game that plays fast fits right into our wheelhouse. 

    Mike's elite armored infantry hunkered down in the town, taking shots at Keith's advancing marines

Did the guys have fun? It appears so. I think both Keith and Andy were a tad frustrated with the die rolls, at times. However, they were both looking through their copy of the rulebook and thinking about tweaks to their list or dreaming up how to field new forces. Allen pronounced himself thrilled, as he was very successful the first time we played Xenos Rampant, as well! I think we have a "winner" for continuing games. I still feel I want to keep an eye on what forces players are fielding. In my reading of comments on the game, and in the rules themselves, they warn players not to try to tinker endlessly to recruit the unbeatable force. As tough as Mike's Recon Infantry snipers were, we all agreed there are solutions to an opponent fielding them. And Mike freely admitted his rolls for them were way above average. I saw myself how Andy's rolls were the opposite. He was successful on the "Firefight" ability (which allows a target of a shot return fire on a 7+) only once in the entire game!

    Joel's Terminators were obviously programmed for a very cautious, tentative advance

So, yes, Xenos Rampant is a dice game and the outcome can be heavily influenced by who is having a good night and who a bad one. Still, how many other games are similarly vulnerable to that? The rules are easy to pick up and players are running their own turns with few questions fairly early on. You do have to be very careful if you play multiple sets of the "Rampant" rule series. I took the time at the beginning of the game to go down the list of things I'd noticed that were subtly different from Lion Rampant. Commanders within 12" add +1 to activations in Xenos, but not Lion. You roll 10 attack dice if more than full strength in Xenos, but 12 in Lion. You subtract total losses for the game from your Courage roll in Lion, but only how many SP you lost in Xenos when testing for taking losses due to shooting or melee. Lots of tiny differences that can trip you up. It would probably be helpful to create a "Differences between X and Y sets of Rampant rules," if someone had the time and drive to do so.

    Keith admitted that Attacking (melee) Mike's heavy infantry in the woods was a costly mistake

As it was, the Attackers -- Mike S, Tom, and Andy -- ended up winning on two of the three battlefields, so were declared the victors. Players were free to fire at opponents in adjacent clashes, but it happened only twice in the entire game. Each seemed focused on the detachment across the table from them, and probably rightfully so. I think I feel Xenos Rampant is more balanced after our second game than I did after the first. I made big changes to my detachments after Game 1, but now I'm not so sure they were the best call. I think that with proper generalship, all of the troop types can be useful and that none are all-powerful. Elite Infantry, which some may think are overpowering, can wilt away in the face of determined firepower. I think I will go back in and tinker with my forces, but not to optimize them. I think I will create more variety in them so that we are fielding a wider range of troop types in our next game.

    Andy kept his heavy infantry in reserve while moving his elite Marines & dreadnought forward

It was a fun, fast evening of gaming, and it was great to get everyone around the tabletop rolling dice. I will be miss the next two weeks of gaming, so I look forward to getting together with everyone later in February!

    Battle finally joined in center after the cat & mouse maneuvers of the Bronze Legion & Terminators

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 10 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

    Having taken 4 hits, Andy's Dreadnought Attack Vehicle is one hit away from destruction

    Andy embraced the role of Attacker, but found his troops battered by Allen's Anadorans

    Game hinged on the battle in the center, which the Terminators failed to win as their attack faltered

'It's a Trap!' More Sci-Fi Figures - Mon Calamari from Star Wars

   'Fishman Troopers' that I purchased from JS Wargamer Printing at Cincycon & painted up recently

The more I paint JS Wargamer Printing 3-D miniatures, the more I am liking them. Here's another batch I recently painted up for my Sci-Fi games. They could be either a unit for Xenos Rampant, a couple squads for Wiley Games' Galactic Heroes, or an enemy force for Five Parsecs from Home. All Star Wars fans know Admiral Ackbar, the squid-faced, fleet commander famous for his line, "It's a trap!" Well, apparently his home world is a water one named Mon Cala. And his people are -- you guessed it -- Mon Calamari! 

    Go ahead, say it...you know you want to mimic Admiral Ackbar's voice and declare, "It's a trap!"

What's more, according to Wookiepedia (yes, that is the Star Wars fan site's name), there are various skin colors for the natives of the planet. So, this "fact" let me inject a little variety into this squad besides Ackbar's reddish tones. HMGS Great Lakes member John Leahy runs JS Wargamer Printing, and his prints were fairly clean and had none of the lines you sometimes see in 3-D printed models (especially terrain). I've been pleased with everything I've purchased from him so far, so I recommend his company highly. These figures came on "slotta" style bars, which I snipped off and cemented their feet directly to the base. I've always hated slotta bases. There are 10 "Fishman Troopers" in the pack, but I was careless in snipping off the slot and snapped one poor Mon Calamari's foot off. So, perhaps it was a trap!

    Two Fishman troopers, green and blue-skinned, armed with a light saber and blaster

As I do with 3-D printed figures, I primed them with Krylon Fusion acrylic black. Then I go over it with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. I feel this gives it an extra shell to strengthen any fragile parts. I chose five different base skin colors, which I then dry brushed in lighter tones: blue, green, dark orange, red-brown, and salmon. I really liked how the dry brushing brought out the detail on the face -- especially the wattles or whatever the skin flaps under the mouth are called. As I looked over each one, I had to fight off the temptation to say, "It's a trap!" Still, I couldn't help myself sometimes. So, for the heck of it, I decided to keep track of how many times I said it during the painting process!

   Three more Mon Calamari, front and back, showing the subtle differences in color I used for variety

The outfits I decided were two basic garmants. The first was for the shirt/poncho that went down to the elbows and below the waist, and was slitted up on the sides. The "pants" I decided were actually a one-piece outfit that was worn underneath the shirt poncho. In addition, I screwed up and thought it also extended beneath the folded sleeves. I was wrong. Upon closer look, I saw that it was the trooper's skin beneath the folded sleeves -- not the underall and gloves. So, I had to go back and redo the skin on the forearms and hands of each Fishman trooper. I used pastel colors -- a light gray, light green, and dun yellows -- for the shirts. The pants were done in grays, tans, and dun yellows. I regularly referred to Google Image searches of Admiral Ackbar and Mon Calamari on the internet to get inspiration for colors. I didn't want them to be completely uniform, but I wanted them to have a relatively common look.

    I liked the varieties of poses, too, in this pack of 'Fishman Troopers' from JS Wargamer Printing

I did the same for the belts and shoes, switching it up and trying to make each as individually different from the others as possible. For example, for the three figures with the light gray shirt, I would give one gray pants, one khaki, and one yellow. I have been doing things like this on miniatures for decades to give an irregular but unified look to armies. The eyes I painted a dark brown first. I then did a yellow arc and tiny point to do my best to replicate the Mon Calamari's almost cat-like eyes. In the movies, Ackbar's eyes are very shiny and wet looking. So, when the final spray coat was done, I went back and brushed on clear gloss over the eyes.

    If you are a Star Wars fan, I recommend picking up this bag of Fishman Troopers!

The blasters were done in Gunmetal Gray with Pewter highlights. The nose cone of gun I painted metallic red, for the fun of it. The light sabers were done in metallic chocolate brown with gold highlights. Brown and black washes were done over the colors, depending on which would look better. Tans and yellows tend to get the brown, while the blues, greens, grays, etc., get black. Weapons get the full strength black wash. I flocked them up like I have been doing for my space forces, and was done. Overall, the Fishman troopers painted up very quickly and will make a nice addition to my Sci-Fi forces. Oh? How many times did I say, "It's a trap!" during the process. I counted eight -- which I felt was very reserved. I wanted to say it many more times...ha, ha!

    One final look at the Mon Calamari on my space station boards with Sci-Fi scatter terrain

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 120

Valkeeri Engineer - Color Shift Paints & Hydra Minis

    My first experiment with 'color shift paints' - which is the sparkly purple-blue of the uniform here

This single figure represents two "firsts" for me. The figure is from Hydra Miniatures "Retro Raygun" line of figures. It was sent to me as a freebie gift along with an order of their Valkeeri female soldiers I picked up for use with Xenos Rampant. It is the Astro Angel Engineer figure, which being female, fits well with the all-female Valkeeri force. I intend to paint them up as my next Xenos Rampant detachment...eventually. I did this one first because I found after I had painted my crew for Five Parsecs from Home that I was supposed to start with six (not five) characters. Serendipity, I guess!

    This was also the first Hydra Miniatures fig I painted - Astro Angel Enginner from 'Retro Raygun'

The other first is my first real use of color shift paints. This is a relatively new concept (I first heard about from John Leahy at Cincycon 2024 in March, though I'm sure they'd been out longer). The paint is essentially a glaze that reflects the light shining on the figure in a prismatic effect. The bottle I bought was from Folk Art, and advertised itself as having a Violet-Blue-Red shift. When I look at the miniature under my painting lamp, it looks mostly blue. However, when you change the lighting (as I hope you can see in some of the photos), it looks more purple. I think you really have to work with some strange lighting (or lack of?) to get any red out of it, though.

    The uniform's blue is what I see under my paint lamp. The purple comes out in other light

I had a color scheme in mind for my Valkeeri detachment, so figured this was a great opportunity to test and see if it worked. Ostensibly, I don't need this figure for my 24-point detachment, so it is a great test subject. I went back and look at how one of my favorite miniature painters, Dr. Matthias from the Lead Adventure Forum, painted it. Click on the link above where it says "Astro Angel Engineer" to see how much better a painter he is than me! Anyway, I decided to paint the unitard that goes from the boots to neck and gloves with the color shifting paints. I shook up the paint a little extra and then opened it up to see milky white. I figured that I hadn't shaken it up enough, so did it some more. When it was still milky white, I put an old brush in the bottle, stirred it up, and pulled it out. It was all the same color -- the paint was shaken up enough. It was then I noticed the tiny glitter-like flecks.

    I love the very retro 1950s Sci-Fi look of the rocket packs, raygun pistol sand helmets on these figs!

Okay, I thought, here goes! I researched beforehand how to prep the surface for a color shift paint. You are supposed to prime it black and then do a clear gloss on the black. As I brushed it on, I was thinking, "This isn't working." It looked the same milky white (and didn't appear to be covering the black at all). I came back about an hour later and said, "Wow!" It did indeed dry opaque, but what a color that was! It was very sparkly -- think of a gold lame dress. That's how I felt it sparkled. As I said, though, it looked blue under my paint lamp. I was planning on a purple and black color scheme -- which I felt would look cool with the light green skin I was going to give my Valkeeri. Now what to do for the rest of the figure?

    Is the uniform blue? Purple? Both? This prismatic effect is an interesting feature of color shift paint

I decided to give her purple boots and gloves, and make the flexible joints in the uniform black to see how that turned out. The helmet and metallic portions of the uniform I painted with a steel base coat and bright bronze highlights (also a Folk Art color). I thought this almost coppery tone would be a good accent and make it look suitably retro. I had decided my Valkeeri skin would be light green -- think of the Orion slave dancing girl that Capt. Kirk in Star Trek goes gaga over. Dr. Matthias paints his in a normal skin tone, but he is a master painter. I need something to make mine stand out...ha, ha!

    A final look at my sixth crew member for my Five Parsecs from Home - a very cool & unique fig!

So, how do I like my experiment? I do like it. I may change up the other uniform colors when I get around to doing my entire Xenos Rampant force of Valkeeri, though. In the meantime, the engineer will be my sixth crew for Five Parsecs from Home. Yes, yes, I know I haven't said anything about the game since my first post awhile back. That's because I've been so busy working on the Beldolor Studies Gatorfolk (which will be my next post -- if the confounded Columbus humidity ever lets me spray seal any figures!). This figure was actually painted after the Gatorfolk, but completed while I was waiting to be able to spray (still waiting, by the way...). Important note: my research says NOT to spray seal color shift paints. They are a sealant, in addition to a paint, glaze, and first-time use by me...! Hope you like it!!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 96

First Game of Xenos Rampant - Bronze Legion Fends Off Invasion!

 

    A unit of Tyrannid Lesser Xenomorphs is suppressed by fire from Bronze Legion heavy infantry

Months after I thought I'd be hosting my first game of Xenos Rampant Sci-Fi battle rules, it finally happened. Six of us gathered for our regular Sunday night gaming session to game out a scenario that I had adapted from the rules. A number of things got in the way, including my own travel and dragging my feet getting the last couple things done. I had four of my own detachments painted and ready, and I'd borrowed two from my friend Keith (of Orcafinn's Basement). We would do a three detachments per side big battle.

    Defenders of the planet are on the right (Mike W, Allen, Mike S) and invaders on the left

Although, Xenos Rampant bills itself as a "skirmish" game, I tend to think of it more of as a battle game. Players control more than just a handful of figures. The smallest 24-point detachment in figure number last night was the Terminators, who had 15 mechanoid figures and one crab bot walker. Although that one may be "skirmish" size, the others were not. The largest was Keith's Tyrannid force (that I commanded) of 50 figures. I consider that many a battle game rather than a skirmish. I had the terrain set out and the forces set out along their board edges when my players arrived. I let them pick their seats, choosing their detachment in the process. 

    A detachment of Terminators advances through the parkland to take out the city power station

The scenario featured an off-world invasion by the "bad guys," with the planet being defended by a coalition of forces. The mercenary Bronze Legion had been entrusted to spearhead the defense, aided by a detachment of blue-skinned Anadorans, and an allied contingent of intelligent apes (my Planet of the Apes figures). Mike W commanded the simians, Allen the Bronze Legion, and Mike S the Anadorans. 

    The Tyrannid assault force enters the bombarded city and swarms towards the shield generator

The invaders -- Keith, Joel, and myself -- had an objective building that we had to end the game within 3" of, which would earn us 3 points per building. I rationalized we were trying to knock out the planet's defenses on the ground so our space bombardment could them pound them into submission. Meanwhile, the defenders got their points by destroying or routing our units (one point each). I was in the center with the Tyrannid swarm of xenomorphs (think of the movie Alien). Keith controlled his "Space Dorks," as he called them. These figs were likely old Warhammer Space Ork figures that his sister had seen and kindly picked up for him in a garage sale. On my right was Joel, commanding my Terminator detachment -- two units of Mechanoid Terminators and one of Battle Droids. They were supported by a Crab Bot Walker. 

    On our left, Keith's 'Space Dorks' begin their advance upon the city's fuel depot guarded by the apes

Each player had one of my own Quick Reference Sheets that I had created for the game. I walked them through the rules, taking little more than 20 minutes to do so. Keith had played the game once at Cincycon 2024 and Mike S had (like me) read the rules. I think the players did a great job picking up the concepts and mechanics. Any questions we had were along the line of "Do you need line of sight if using Support Fire for your Support Infantry (artillery) unit?" There were very few questions about movement, shooting, or testing morale. One thing that confused the players, as I expected, was Xenos Rampant's decision to use a generic word like "Attack" for melee combat. I may on future QRS and unit cards simply change it to Melee. When you hear the word attack, you don't necessarily translate that to charging and entering melee with a unit. I wish they'd used the word 'Melee' instead in the rules!

    Two units of Anadoran heavy infantry are supported by a Crab Bot as they guard the power station

The table was fairly dense with troops. I had three, 24-point detachments opposing an equal sized force on an 8'x4' battlefield. The rules recommend a one-on-one match up between two 24-point detachments be fought on a 4'x4' table. I was adding only 2' per extra opposed forces. However, my gaming table is only 8' wide, so what are you going to do? I wanted to test it out and see if this is a good sized force for players to command. I think 24 points works really well for one player. All of us were essentially new to the game and had little trouble keeping track of and commanding their forces. 

Tyrannids learned to advance through heavy cover to lessen the defending fire of the Bronze legion

One feature of the "Rampant" series of rules is that if you fail a unit activation, your turn ends. The other units you did not get to yet stay in place and do not move or fire. However, Xenos Rampant also has "free actions" for virtually every unit type. For example, Heavy Infantry Shoot for free, meaning they do not need to roll 2d6 and equal or exceed their Shoot activation number. They simply declare their shooting and roll their attack. Light Infantry, on the other hand, move for free. However, when they get into position and want to shoot on subsequent turns, they will have to roll their Shoot activation to do so. Everyone quickly got into the hang of doing all their free activations first before risking any rolls. There were very few players who lost their turn because of an early failure in their turn.

    Space Dork militia and jetpack infantry seize a block of buildings as the first stage of their attack

We found the Xenos Rampant to be a game where you grind down your enemy's units. This does not seem to be one of quick charges and destruction of enemy units type of games. You wear away at them instead, turn after turn. My opponents, the Bronze Legion, had one Heavy Infantry unit that withstood at least three or four Tyrannid charges of Lesser Xenomorphs before they were finally wiped out by the Queen's unit of Greater Xenomorphs. To my right, Mike S and Joel were engaged in a long, steady battle of attrition. Each of them had lost at least two units, as far as I could tell. It was only when the Terminator's Walker was driven off that it because obvious the Anadorans had repelled the Mechanoid assault.

    Our first charge against the Robot Support Gun put damage on it, but we could never knock it out

In the center, I launched wave after wave of "Wild Charges" at the heavy and elite infantry of the Bronze Legion. I also sent in more than one assault against their Robot Support Gun vehicle. The problem was that their infantry held firm against just about every charge. We would be driven back, and then they would shoot us on their turn. So, we were taking incremental losses on both our turn and their turn, while they were losing figures only on my turn. I don't think Allen's Bronze Legion ever failed a Courage Test, either. What's worse, there was one disastrous turn when two of my Lesser Xenomorphs failed theirs and had to recover from suppressed on my turn instead of charging. This gave the enemy an extra turn of fire, which in the end, I feel is what broke the back of the Tyrannid assault.

    Meanwhile, the Terminator force closes in on the Anadorans as both sides exchange gunfire

Partway through, I did shift my forces away from where the bulk of his where once I'd seen the handwriting on the wall. He had four of his units deployed to the left of my objective building, the city's shield generator. However, there was only one unit of Heavy Infantry to the right of it. I moved my Queen's Greater Xenomorphs up and they were able to charge in and wipe out the heavy infantry. It was Allen's only lost unit, and just about his only lost figures, too! After our success, the Bronze Leigon's two units of elite infantry simply moved out far enough to target my queen's unit. Of course, since the Greater Xenomorphs have the "Wild Charge" trait, they had to charge in against one of the elite units. It WAS the one containing his commander, though. So, if I could wipe them out and kill his commander, maybe morale checks would swing the tide? No, it was not to be! All of the queen's bodyguards were killed, and on the next turn, she was gunned down by the elite troopers.

    The Space Dorks make progress on the flank, but it is still too far from their objective

On my left, Keith's battle with the apes was going much better. However, they apes were defending stubbornly, or perhaps Keith wasn't being aggressive enough? He did charge...sorry, "Attack" several times that I saw, though. So, I think it was a case of the gorillas, chimpanzees, and gibbons giving ground grudgingly. When we finally called the game, Keith's push still had momentum, but he was too far away from the objective building to get us any points. The alliance that the Bronze Legion had cobbled together had triumphed. Our plan to drop in three detachments planet side and blow up their shield generators had failed. The invading forces were pushed out of the city, and the space bombardment stopped by their intact shields. The planet was saved!

    Tyrannids "shift right," preparing to overwhelm the lone heavy infantry guarding that side

I think everyone felt comfortable with the rules and learned them quickly. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game, though Mike W is not the biggest miniatures fan and seemed the least enthusiastic. I will definitely run more games of Xenos Rampant, though I may wait for smaller numbers. Every once in awhile we have only 4-5 players instead of six or seven. That way, there could be more maneuver and less of a frontal assault that our table space and scenario dictated. There are 10 different scenario in the rulebook, so I'd like to try some of them out the next time we have a slightly smaller crowd. 

   Queen's Greater Xenomorphs melee the Bronze Legion commander's personal guard of elite infantry

That may mean there is a bit of a time gap between playing games of XR. However, the rules are easy enough to pick up, as my players proved. So, all of the painting and getting ready to try XR finally came to fruition. Although it was a tabletop defeat for my force, it was a personal victory for me that my players had fun and the figures and terrain looked great on the table.  I look forward to the next game!

    After being driven off in their assault, the Queen is then shot down mercilessly by the Bronze Legion

    Pivotal moment as opposing Crab Bots duel it out, with the Anadoran's blue walker winning

    Stung by flanking fire, the Space Dork jetpack infantry charge the Bronze Legion, only be driven off

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 80

Mounted Gorillas (and pics of all Planet of the Apes figs)

 

    Zoomed in view of my mounted gorilla general leading my entire Planet of the Apes force

My Planet of the Apes figures are from three different manufacturers. The first batch I ever painted, years ago, were from Eureka -- their "Boiler Suit Apes." I am assuming the name refers to the coveralls their wearing, but I could be wrong. They are excellently cast figures and very animated. My next batch I picked up were from Sgt. Major Miniatures. The line is now carried by Battle Valor Games, who picked up many other of their lines besides the Planet of the Apes figures. Thrown into the mix recently were the 3-D printed miniatures from JS Wargamer Printing. Since I had only a single pack of three Battle Valor mounted gorillas, I bought one of JS's Gorilla Cavalry packs of four figures earlier this month at Cincycon 2024.

    My five Gorilla Cavalry to round out my Planet of the Apes detachment for Xenos Rampant

How do they all mix together? Well, I would have a good chance to see that as I set out a squad of five mounted gorillas! This squad is a last-minute addition for my Planet of the Apes detachment for Xenos Rampant. I used all three of the Battle Valor metal figures and two of the JS 3-D ones. Height-wise, they looked okay together. I based all five on the pill-shaped bases I'd picked up from Litko awhile back. As I brush primed them my usual acrylic white, it was easier to some differences. The most noticeable was in head size. The proportions of the metal figures tend to be somewhat exaggerated, while those on the 3-D printed ones are sometimes a tad slender or small. My hope was that, once painted up, these differences would be lost on the eye.

    Three mounted gorillas from Battle Valor Games -- metal minis, more my style and liking

With the Battle Valor figures, I had to glue the metal rider to the horse, as usual. With the 3-D ones, it was the upper torso that needed to be glued to the lower body, which was sculpted onto the horse. Unfortunately, this pack of Battle Valor figures had the most flash I have ever had to clean off from either them or Sgt. Major. I don't know if these were old ones or new ones, but it took some major X-acto knife work to clean them up. The 3-D printed figures, of course, required no cleaning up.

   3-D printed mounted gorillas from JS Wargamer Printing - clean, slender figs...our hobby's future?

For horse colors, I pulled out my Saga Mongol army and picked out five color patterns that I liked. Why reinvent the wheel? If I have horse markings that I have done and liked, why not recycle them for another period and army? The 3-D printed horses were noticeably more slender, though, but not quite as dynamically posed as the metal ones. I really liked how all five horses looked painted up, though. So far, metal and 3-D printed were running pretty even and looking good enough together.

    Good look at my entire force of 28mm Planet of the Apes figures from three different manufacturers

It was when I got to the riders that the differences were most noticeable. The metal figures are MUCH chunkier. They have the exaggerated, raised detail common on metal miniatures that I am used to painting. The detail on the 3-D printed figures was shallower and somewhat muddier -- especially on the gorillas' faces. I know that is not a characteristic of all 3-D printed miniatures. For example, I like the ones from Wiley Games -- they seem more similar to what I am used to painting, detail-wise. It's not that I dislike the 3-D printed figures. It just seemed different - almost like I was painting 1/72 plastic figures with their shallow detail rather than 28mm ones. I think if a whole army or project was done in the 3-D printed minis, I would be fine with them. Supplementing an existing project with a pack or two of these is when you notice the differences.

    The first apes I painted up -- a force of well-armed chimpanzees from Eureka Miniatures

Will there come a day when the majority of our figures are 3-D printed rather than manufactured in the traditional sense? Perhaps. I just hope the designers retain the convention of slightly exaggerated, raised detail that makes our miniatures easier to paint. It's hard to dry brush figures with more realistic, properly scaled details, for example. I think that in many cases, plastic multipart or "kit" boxes have begun to outnumber metal ones. With the historical backlog of metal releases, choices in metal probably still outnumber those in plastic or 3-D. However, in NEW releases, I think metal has begun to fall behind. Of course, this is all my own opinion, and directed mainly at 28mm scale. In smaller scales, metal may still outnumber plastic. I'm not sure and haven't done any detailed research into it. Just rambling!

    Mounted General Urco leads my force of gorilla infantry to take over the world of humans

I painted my mounted gorillas to match my previously painted foot ones with leather armor and dark purple uniforms. Both metal and plastic painted up easily and well, I feel. All five are "rank and file" types, so no fancy leaders here. I will use them as Berserk Infantry (yeah, I know they're mounted) for Xenos Rampant. I can see the gorillas eagerly wanting to charge into close combat. I want to use a variety of troop types in my XR detachments so that I can get a good feel for how they all work. Speaking of which, I will be borrowing a couple detachments from my friend Keith at our usual Sunday evening gaming. I expect six players for my first game, so will field my own Bronze Legion, Machines, Anadorans, and Planet of the Apes forces. I expect to be making unit cards and designing a Quick Reference Sheet this week.

   Some character types - a chimp general and bodyguard, Dr. Zaius and Maurice the Orangutan

What's next? I am finally getting around to making my fatigue markers for my Saga Thracians. That will definitely be my next post. In addition, I am going to try to get some 3-D printed Sci-Fi terrain that I bought from Sea Dog Game Studios and Diabolical Terrain finished up for my first XR game, too. Stay tuned -- lots more on the way!!

    More Eureka Miniatures -- these are billed as Gibbon Monkeys and another cool set of figs!

    Another shot of my Planet of the Apes forces assembled, with the Gibbons protecting the right wing

    Maurice, Dr. Zaius, and the gorilla cavalry guard the left wing of the battleline

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 41