Director Krennic- Aspirations of Terror

Rogue One is one of my personal favorite Star Wars films, and I find the villain of the piece, Director Krennic, a fascinating character. Despite his overweening pride he's managed to finagle himself both rank and privileges, and he's not afraid to take the lead in combat.Fitting, then, that he should be made for a wargame! The miniature is another from the Star Wars Legion line, and I continue to be impressed by the sculpts- the head and cloak in particular capture the look of the character very well.

I played around some with my white tones on him (compare the cloak to Professor Yana, for example), and I'm pretty happy with the effect. The costume presents some really good contrasts, which makes for a miniature that will stand out on the table.

The base is inspired by the opening scene on Lah'mu, a volcanic planet filmed in Iceland. Now I just need some Death Troopers to flank him...

The Mandalorian: The Original Definite Article

It has been almost six months since I've posted! Life unfortunately has a habit of getting in the way, and I now find myself presented with a rarity for me- a pile of completed, but unposted miniatures! I hope to get posts up with more frequency as the year progresses, starting with my most recent project- Boba Fett.

This miniature is from a game I have never played, Fantasy Flight's Star Wars Legion. It's a slightly larger scale then the average wargaming miniature (35mm), and I had never convinced myself to buy any, being uncertain of the quality and scale. However, my girlfriend, knowing my interest in Star Wars, bought me this model for Christmas and I have not been disappointed! The larger scale allows for even more detail and it is one of the most enjoyable digital sculpts I've painted- the paint seemed to flow onto the sculpt, rather than having to fight against it.

 Boba Fett went through a costume change in between his two appearances- this sculpt is based on his latter appearance in Return of the Jedi. I discovered an invaluable resource for painting Fett- the 501st Legion's (a Star Wars cosplay group) costume guidelines. I tried to get the detail and weathering to stay close to this guide- the silver chipping, in particular, is what makes the armor pop.

Black Series Imperial Jumptrooper Review

Picked up a new(ish) Black Series figure a couple days ago, so I thought I'd do a quick review. It's the Gamestop exclusive for the year, an Imperial Jumptrooper from the TV show Rebels. I'll admit, I haven't seen episodes with the Jumptrooper yet, having just started the abysmal first season, but I do enjoy my Imperial armor variants!

The figure itself is mostly a repaint of the original stormtrooper mold with a new helmet, gear and shoulder pads. It shares the advantages (great elbow articulation!) and disadvantages (slightly warped feet and legs) as the original, and reuses the peg hole from the sandtrooper backpack for the jetpack. Surprisingly, the large shoulder pads don't seem to hinder the articulation any more than on the standard trooper. Noticeable in this shot is the standard E-11 blaster, which has an excellent drybrush over the entire surface.

The paint application on mine had a couple miscenterings on the belt, but nothing major. The colors (especially on the helmet) look great, the combination of mustard yellow and grey make this character stand out alongside the usually monochrome stormtroopers. I believe the yellow shoulder pad marks him as a commander. The helmet lacks the usual detail around the breathing mask, reminding me of Commander Neyo from Clone Wars.

All in all, it's a good variant trooper with a striking design- perfect to spice up an Imperial display. 

Star Wars Build- Bandai Models General Grievous

In the past six months or so I've started on yet another collection- 1/12 scale Star Wars action figures! Somehow Hasbro's Black Series had escaped my eye till then, and now I've discovered (and purchased) not only those, but Bandai's line of model kits. The Grievous looked awesome (and is a particular favorite character of mine), and so I thought I'd start there.

May I simply say I was very impressed with the build. It was very smooth to assemble (one of the best builds I've had in a long while), and the detail is spot on. I took the above picture after I'd assembled the kit, but before any painting aside from the eyes and lining on the armor. From here out, I'll try something a little different than usual- there's so much detail on the figure I want to focus on the photos, only adding a few comments on the build.

And after! As in the film, I added plenty of battle damage to the armor with washes and lining, scratching up both with toothpicks afterwards.

The war mask and eyes may be my favorite part of the model.

The hands, on the other hand, were probably my least favorite- all of that recessed detail was very difficult to paint.

The lightsabers are all accurate to RotS- I really would have preferred the sabers seen in the latter half of Clone Wars to these, which are all existing hilts like Obi-Wan's and Vader's. Still, painting lightsaber hilts was very enjoyable!

I enjoy taking pictures of my action figures outdoors, and Grievous may be my favorite to do so- he's a character I've wanted a high quality figure of since I was a child, and the wait was well worth it!

Any thoughts on this different style of build and post? Leave a comment, and let me know know which you prefer!

Sign of Things to Come

Bandai Models General Grievous- look for more pics tomorrow!

Aggressive Support

Despite the fact that the E-Wing or the 181st wing's TIE Interceptors never made a screen appearance, they are both relatively well known, appearing several memorable times in the expanded universe. The same cannot be said for the TIE Aggressor. It first appeared in the video game Star Wars Galaxies' Jump to Lightspeed supplement, and until it was made as an X-Wing miniature, it seems to have never reappeared- in fact, I had never heard of it. This is a pity, as it is a good looking TIE variant.

I have heard that, meta-game, it was intended to provide the Imperials with a fighter/bomber similar to a Y-Wing, especially with its rear-mounted turret. While I don't know how this translated in Galaxy terms, the X-Wing game maneuvers seem to grant it a slight advantage over the actual X-Wing, let alone the 'wallowing pig' Y-Wing. Its ability to take missiles, in addition to the ion or laser turret will, I think, prove useful in a support role. More useful, in fact, than the better known TIE bomber, as its added maneuverability and rear-mounted firepower will allow it to engage in dogfights.

All the painting work I did on this miniature was a few details (see below) and a heavy ink wash. Despite the simplicity, I think it adds a great deal of depth to the model.

The turret on the Aggressor (not on this model!) is removable, allowing for the craft to be easily modified for different missions. The same is true for the missile racks which have been left off of the miniature- they fit onto the slots directly above and below the inside solar panel brace. The laser cannon mounts are also supposed to be externally mounted instead of the standard internal mounts shown on the front of miniature.

When you watch the movies and look at stills of the TIE props, they are painted an overall Imperial grey. Even with the 181st Interceptor, the only color is the bloodstripes, there is no mechanical detailing like on Rebel craft. However, as this is supposed to be more of a first run or prototype, I added some slight gunmetal detailing, which can be seen most clearly between the panel lines on the top and belly.

The Aggressor is based on the same basic design as the TIE x1 advanced, flown by Darth Vader at Yavin Four. Like the x1, the Aggressor has limited shields and a hyperdrive, making it a good escort or long range craft. This high cost eventually undid the Aggressor, especially after Endor, when the Empire struggled to keep even the much less expensive Fighters and Interceptors supplied to its forces.

Might of the Empire

I couldn't let the E-Wing I posted last week go without an opponent, so I purchased one of my personal favorite Star Wars ships to battle it- a TIE Interceptor. First encountered by the Rebellion in the months leading up to the battle of Endor, it improved upon the TIE Fighter's already considerable maneuverability, while adding improved firepower and visibility. It is also, in my opinion, one of the most lethal looking space fighters inside or out of Star Wars canon, and is flown by some of the greatest aces the Empire has to offer.

The pilots included with the expansion pack show a strong focus on the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, lead by Baron Soontir Fel, first seen in the Rogue Squadron comic series. This is to my liking, I even added bloodstripes used by the 181st to the side solar panels. The pilot abilities and upgrades included seem to take advantage of the Interceptor's greatest asset, its speed and maneuverability. Turr Phennir (the 181st's XO and later commander) in particular will be able to pull hit and run passes with ease, darting in and out of range to strike at slower Rebel opponents.

I did not do as much detail work on this model as on the E-Wing. In looking back at its only screen appearance in RotJ, the Interceptor is relatively clean and is painted a uniform grey. Weathering was really restricted to a heavy wash and carbon streaking around the laser muzzles. In researching this fighter, I discovered that some argue that the Intercepors at Endor had 10 cannons- four on the wingtips, four inside the cutaway portion of the wings, and two below the cockpit. I re-watched the Endor space sequences specifically looking for this, and all the shots fired appeared to be coming from the wingtips, so I only detailed these.

This shows the bloodstriping to good effect. These stripes were all painted by hand, without masking, so there is some slight deviance in the lines. I was expecting them to be much harder to paint than they ended up being. I had no trouble painting over the actual solar panels, the detailing on them actually helped keep the lines straight.

The twin ion engines, which give the TIE its name, were the only other spot of detail I added. You can also see the extra depth that the ink wash added around the engines and on the inside of the solar panel.

Squints incoming!

First Step Into a Larger World

I have a soft spot for dogfight games, going back to a copy of Wings of War: Dawn of WWII that I was given for my 11th birthday. Despite my continuing interest in that game, there are issues with it, especially for an eleven year-old. The plane cards lack the cool factor of miniatures, and made movement tricky, and the maneuver deck was also fiddly. Because of this (and the fact that WoW supplements are vastly more expensive than I remember), I had been interested in finding a replacement game for some time, and Fantasy Flight's X-Wing Miniatures Game fit the bill. In addition to great looking minis and a more streamlined gameplay than its predecessor, it tapped into another thing I enjoy, the X-Wing novels by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston. The idea of recreating the actions of Rogue and Wraith Squadrons on the tabletop had me hooked. So, as a test of the miniature quality, I purchased an E-Wing expansion pack.

The quality of the game tokens and cards is up to Fantasy Flight's usual high standards, the tokens are printed with a great deal of detail, and all the cards feature original artwork (I'd like to see credits for the artists as per Arkham Horror, though). The E-Wing first appeared in the comic series Dark Empire plagued with mechanical difficulties, although it later became something of a replacement for the X-Wing by the time of The Black Fleet Crisis and New Jedi Order era. Since the E-Wing is strictly an Expanded Universe ship, unrevisited as yet by the Disney takeover, all the pilots come from the novels and comics of 'Legends' canon. The two generic cards, from Knave and Blackmoon Squadrons, are from Dark Empire and The New Jedi Order novels respectively. Having Corran Horn, the protagonist of Stackpole's Rogue Squadron novels, makes for a great ace character, although Etahn Ah'Baht's addition is somewhat perplexing. A'Baht is the Dornean General in charge of the Fifth New Republic Fleet in the Black Fleet Crisis and the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, and never to my knowledge flies a snubfighter.

Still, it is an excellent pack. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the paint job too. Even I would feel comfortable fielding it in an unmodified state- perhaps the first prepainted miniature I've felt that way about. Still, as seen above, there was room for improvement! I opted for Blackmoon Squadron markings, which I do not believe have ever been illustrated, even unofficially, giving me room to invent my own.

I kept the shape of the original red markings as I liked the outlines and wanted to retain the good 'alliance grey' color on the body. All the repainting was done freehand, with no masking of any kind, as such there is some slight variance with the markings. I also wanted to relieve the resultant monochromatic look, so I added a stripe in medium tan/yellow down the body.

Last to be added were some slightly overscale squadron and pilot insignia, along with a row of kills below the cockpit. I actually could not find anyone who had added carbon scoring from laser cannon near-misses- these were drybrushed on before I applied an overall ink wash.

I opted for no markings along the underbelly of the E-Wing, making the tan arrows stand out in contrast with the plain grey.

I look forward to testing the ship's mettle and trying out the game in the near future!

Beast-Master

Here at Wolf Age Miniatures, with so many monsters and daemons running loose, there has long been a need for a Beast-Master to control and take care of all these creatures. It was a long time before I found a suitable candidate, but the position is filled at last!

Previously in the employ of the late Jabba the Hutt, the Corellian-born Malakili was the primary caregiver for the rancor Pateesa, until that beast's untimely demise at the hands of Luke Skywalker. After the death of his employer Malakili wandered the deserts, for a time he became a sort of nanny to another Hutt, later helping to found a restaurant in the thriving spaceport Mos Eisley. However, after a disagreement with his partner over the customer status of banthas, he began traveling the stars, eventually ending up at my door, in need of a job.

Needless to say, he found one. It's been a bit of an adjustment for him, he's not used to handling creatures with more supernatural abilities like the basilisk or hellhound, but he picks up quickly and I'm happy with his work.

Malakili is a West End Games model, produced in the 1990's by Grenadier for their Star Wars RPG.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Star Wars, even the originals,  may not be my favorite films, that title going to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I have had a soft spot for much of its Expanded Universe for some time. So, when searching for copies of some Thrawn novels I found a 1978 Star Wars novel with a Ralph McQuarrie cover, I snatched it up!
Foster's name was familiar, although I can't remember actually reading anything by him, he's best known to me for his Star Trek and Alien novels- other adaptions and Fan Fiction-type books.

The Star Wars EU, although Disney has recently thrown a good bit of it out, is one of the most developed of any Sci-Fi universe- every throw-away line and background character has its story- and this, the first novel written, is where it starts. According to that supreme source Wikipedia (backed up by Star Wars Insider) Foster not only had access to many of the early drafts and story ideas, but this novel was to be a cheap sequel if the first film was a flop. This would have lead to a very different development of the series, as I'll expand on later.

The novel itself is a good light read, don't be expecting much in the way of prose style, but it does have something of a swords and sorcery feel to parts, especially towards the end, where Luke and Leia fight their way through a system of caves to reach an ancient temple dominated by a giant Cthulhu statue, wherein lies a gem with Force-controlling powers. This actually works pretty well with the space opera of the films.

The most interesting thing to me is to see how exactly this novel influenced and is different from what could be called 'mainstream' or at least more recent EU material. There are two major deviations from the norm:

Han is only mentioned in a throw-away line on the last page, taking his and Ben Kenobi's  place is Halla, a smart-alec witch woman. There are two Chewie-type strong arm aliens that ally themselves with Luke and co., reminding me of the later Gamorrean guards.

"No Luke, I am your father" and especially Luke and Leia's relationship was obviously as big a surprise to Foster as anyone else. Luke has some more than brotherly feelings towards Leia, which can make for some odd reading.

Some other differences include:

The casual mention of female Stormtroopers, not to mention some surprisingly intelligent (and talkative) guards,

The constant reference to the Lord Darth Vader,

Leia explaining she joined the Rebels due to their less degenerate art!

It also has some parallels with the later films. The setting alone is a lot like ESB's Dagobah with an Imperial presence, while the Coway are similar to troglodyte Ewoks, especially in their fighting style. The ending showdown between Luke and Lord Darth Vader also plays out in some ways like a reversed version of the Cloud City duel. It would be interesting to know how much Lucas (or Foster) actually borrowed from each other.

All in all, if you like the films and would like to see a different handling of them it's well worth a read, after you have gone through some of the more 'canon' works.