Overwhelmed in Projects

I have a bad habit of starting a new project when one is not completely finished.  Then starting another one when that one is not completely finished. Then Then starting another one when that one is not completely finished to the point when I have 6 to 10 building and painting projects going at the same time.  The main striff I have this weekend is that I have plenty of time, but the weather is not cooperating.  It is raining cats and dogs outside and the humidty in my house is way high.  No painting for me.

First up, I have decided a few months ago (8 to be exact) that I need a little Imperial Domination going on in my gaming circles.  So I started putting together an Imperial Task Force that could be played in several gaming systems i.e. Firestorm Armada, Babylon 5 ACTA, Full Thrust and Colonial Battlefleet.  At the moment I am trying to paint 10 Stands of Tie Interceptors (30 Individual Fighters), 3 Imperial Dreadnaughts, 1 Interdictor cruiser, 6 Carrack Cruisers, 3 Light Star Destroyers and a Carrier.

 

As you can clearly see from the above pictures I have not even completed 50% of the project, :(
I am slugging along, after prepping the Tie Fighters almost 5 weeks ago I have not at least painted one squadron, albeit not very well.  I suppose I will get better at the paint scheme I am shooting for in the next 9 stands of fighters.  I will include a more in-depth dive on this task force later.

On to major project number two (2).  I decided that I needed a Hiigaran fleet to add to the mix.  Tim from Fate Amenable to Change modeled and produces this line of ships that look great.  I am trying to build this fleet to be playable with the Firestorm Armada rules.  Right now I have enough ships to complete 2 patrol fleets complete with 4 frigates, 3 cruisers, 1 battleships and several stands of fighters.  This project has been on-going for several months too.

Having a lot of ships to play multiple game systems means that I have to be a bit picky on what flight stands that I use.  Having each of my ships permanently mounted to a flight stand takes up a lot of room and limits my transport ability.  Therefore I have chosen now to use the CorSec Engineering flight stand system.  This was done after 2 other failed attempts to use one common flight stand system with all of my miniatures.  As you can see I am trying to convert my miniatures to this standard and have enough flight stands to accommodate multiple gam systems.  Right now I am working on my fighter stands.

So my daughter loves the Dindrenzi and decided she needed another cruiser, frigate and corvette group to go with her current ships for our upcoming campaign to use as reinforcements.

More projects stalled on the shelf at the moment.....

Battlefield debris and Objective projects are still ongoing, here is one of my largest attempts.  I received a defective Aquan Battleship that I am converting to a burning hulk.

Last but not least, I have found that I love the DropZone Commander game.  I play tested at a local gaming store and had to have some.  Therefore I bought the two-player starter and a PHR small set.  AAARRRRGGGG!!!  I have not had a chance to work on it for more than 6 months.  Oh well, time will tell.

Centauri Adria Royal Battleship Fighter Escort

Well folks the time has finally arrived after several weeks of barely working on my modes. I finally finished my Sentri Fighter Escort for the Adria Royal Battleship.  I believe 14 flights of fighters should be enough to cover it while it decimates an enemy fleet with its neutron cannon.

I really like the CorSec Engineering fighter toppers that they produced better any other ones the I have tried over the years.

Next up I have to finish putting together the bases, priming and painting them for the campaign.  Also my daughter finally received some Dindrenzi reinforcements, a frigate/corvette box and a cruiser box from my favorite eBay seller 40Ksue.

The Campaign Map

So after some tinkering with the Firestorm Armada star map I was able to produce something that I sufficiently liked and kinda worked.

Delphic Expanse Campaign Admiralty

Grand Admiral Roy Batty
Flagship: Blade Runner

Fleet Admiral Batty is regarded as the best military strategist in the Hiigaran Navy. Batty served as an officer in the Hiigaran expansionary defense force for many years in the unknown regions, where he demonstrated his brilliance and became the thirteenth Grand Admiral in the Hiigaran Navy. Hearing of the takeover of his home world of Hiigaran by the empire, Batty retired and traveled home to meet with the founders of The Eleven.  He took control of the remaining scattered forces with a plan to crush the Imperial governor and secure the freedom of his people.  After a year of resistance and one decisive battle Grand Admiral Batty succeeded to drive the Empire out of Hiigaran space. After several years of building up the defense forces of Hiigara Batty knew they were no match for the empire. Batty routinely pleaded and argued with the government to allow him to command a task force into the expanse and find new allies and resources. The government finally conceded and Batty was finally given a small fleet to undertake his mission. It was more likely they gave him the ships so they would not have to listen to him any longer and hoped he would be killed.

I've... seen things you people wouldn't believe... [contemptuous laugh] Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-Beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those... moments... will be lost in time, like [small cough] tears... in... rain. Time... to die...

Grand Admiral Roy Batty

Grand Admiral Helia
Flagship: Gorgon

Grand Admiral Helia was a Human female who became the first woman to reach the rank of admiral in the Dindrenzi Navy. Helia enlisted in the DindrenI Navy on Carida, but was discriminated against due to her sex. However, she achieved success thanks to Grand Adirmal Winnfield, who discovered her after she defeated many skilled opponents in simulated battles, using an alias to hide her true identity. Winnfield took her under his wing, and as he rose in the ranks, so did she. Soon after Admiral Winnfield was killed in battle against the Terran Alliance at the Battle for Valhalla. Grief stricken at the loss of one her closest friends Admiral Helia took her task force after the murders. Against fleet HQ orders Admiral Helia tracked down the Terran dog commander and attempted to make him pay for what he had done. The encounter took place at defense outpost 31, where the Terran alliance was amassing a large strike force. Against the advice of her captains and orders of Fleet HQ she ordered her forces to engage a vastly superior force. The ensuing battle did not go in her favor at all. Her heavy cruisers were immediately disabled and out of action. Only using her cunning and vast skill was she able to rally her forces and force a stalemate between the two fleets. The stalemate allowed the Terran forces to withdraw and escape. Admiral Helia’s fleet was in shambles and she was forced to return to Dindrenzi space for repairs. Once in space dock Fleet HQ relived her of command, but given that she disrupted a pending Terran Alliance offensive she was not put in irons and thrown in the brig. When news of the dissipation of the expanse barrier reached Fleet HQ they immediately knew they had to react. With all available Admirals engaged in operations across the Storm Zone the only one available with skill necessary to mount a mission with any success was Admiral Helia. With nowhere to turn Fleet HQ gave her a small patrol fleet to enter the expanse and setup a forward operating location in which to explore, expand and dominate.

 My wish is the death of the Terran Alliance. Now with this fleet in my hands, there will be no one to stop me from making that wish come true."

Grand Admiral Helia

Vladet Taldrya Xavier
Flagship: The Hammer
Vladet Xavier was born into an upper middle class family in Nashal, Talus. His father, Captain Benedict Xavier was a distinguished Terran Naval Pilot who flew numerous missions for the Terran Alliance. Benedict was one of the few bomber pilots who successfully flew more than ten combat missions without being killed. He was later one of the first test pilots for the Assault Gunboat. Vladet's mother was Lieutenant Natalie Xavier, a nurse in the Medical Corps. The two met when Benedict took a leave on the planet of Talus and they have been together ever since.  

There was little doubt what Vladet would be doing in his life, having been trained in the military way of life from as long as he could walk. Having access to military flight simulators from age six, he quickly perfected his flying skills. The local Sector Police unit even allowed Vladet to fly one of their fighters on rare occasions, with the unit Commander being very impressed with young Vladet's natural skills. After two years of training in simulators the security force was dissolved and became the Safety Service which limited the time Vladet could train as the safety service was more interested in snooping than solving crimes. Vladet would not lose his piloting skills, however, and continued to train when he could until he was ready to graduate from school. 

Vladet applied to the Terran Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV when he turned seventeen years old. Due to his parents' backgrounds he was admitted without question and accepted to the Academy's two year plan which would allow him to earn a degree. Vladet's course of study would allow him to bypass the almost suicidal path of a standard Fighter pilot. After twelve years of service he was expelled from the Terran Navy for treason which resulted in a year of mercenary work where he discovered that he wanted an empire of his own. Using his skill, charisma and charm Vladet created a mercenary force like know other. Vladet carved out a slice of life, but had nowhere to call home. Upon hearing of the potential of the expanse Vladet set his fleet course there to find a home world and build an empire.

Centauri Sentri Fighters

In an attempt to bring complete some of my fleets, I spent the last several days digging through the box o' stuff in the hobby room to see what I have left that needs to be finished.

In prep for the pending campaign I have decided that I need to add fighters to Centauri fleet.  To that end I dug out several boxes of fleet scale Sentri fighters from Mongoose Publishing.

I plan on mounting them in the same fashion as the rest of my fighters using the Corsec Engineering Omni Fighter topper.  So that is three (3) fighters to a stand.  This configuration is usually compatible with any game system.

A little background on the Sentri Fighter.

The Sentri Class medium fighter is a fast but lightly armed aerospace fighter deployed by the Centauri military. House Tavari Armaments located at Hevaria Orbital Shipyards over Tolonius VII is responsible for manufacturing this class of vessel.

Possessing greater maneuverability and acceleration than comparable craft such as the Earthforce Starfury, Centauri pilots have been known to perform drastic and stressful maneuvers that will cause them to pass out, passing control over to the autopilot to complete the maneuver and bring the fighter around to a superior tactical position.

The fighter was specifically designed for speed, maneuverability, easy mass-production and meant to complement the large, slow Primus class battle cruisers. Unlike most other fighters, the Sentri was not expected to engage in deepspace combat independently. Instead, Sentri squadrons were used to defend the Primus formations against flank and rear attacks.

The fighter's speed and maneuverability allowed Centauri pilots to maneuver in and around the Primus formations, quickly moving to answer flanking threats with some support from the Primus' side-firing guns. Combining Sentri's fast interception speed with the Primus' heavy firepower, making Centauri formations very difficult for opposing forces to ambush.

They have also proven adept at supporting Vorchan class medium warships though the Vorchans themselves don't feature fighter support facilities, limiting the effective range of such formations to within a few jumps of a base or mothership.

Capable of both atmospheric and non-atmospheric flight, it was one of the largest and most powerful fighters in either environment.

The Sentri's relatively light armaments can work to its disadvantage when faced with superior numbers.