THE CHRONICLES OF JOE BOSS' TABLETOP ADVENTURES IN SPACE OPERA SCIENCE FICTION AND ELDRITCH HORROR MINIATURES WAR GAMING. I AM A LONG TIME SCALE MODELLER, THUS YOU CAN EXPECT FREQUENT ARTICLES ON RELATED HOBBY TOPICS AND COOL SCIENCE FICTION AND GOTHIC-ELDRITCH HORROR MODELING PROJECTS.
I got most of The Earth Defense Force Fleet taken care of this month, and I also added some cool little escort craft to The Garmillas Imperial Fleet. I am incorporating the classic STAR BLAZERS models with the new YAMATO 2199 range. The models scale well, and look good together. Now I will be able to have great diversity in my games, as I can play different time lines, and mix older ships with the newer classes. This is how the series presented these ships too, as the story progressed so did the ships.
The Earth Defense Force has always been one of my all time favorite Starlets in all of Sci-Fi, and now I have the start of a damn fine representation of these heroes and their enemies...LOVE!
Amidst all of the Earth Force models, I also got a cute large sized screen accurate version of The Death Star...which is a good way to start the new year, I think. This is the BIG Daddy model among my STAR WARS Backdrop-ships. It will look very cool on the table, but unlike the other Backdrop-ships in my collection, which do little more than represent reinforcements, and look cool as part of the background terrain, this version of the Deathstar will directly affect the battles.
The Great Imperial Garmillas Astro Fleet is about to be reinforced by The Guipellon Class Multiple Flight Deck Astro Carriers. The first in service launching this week is The Deadly Lambea!
Bandai has gone above and beyond the norm with the production of The YAMATO 2199 Range.
How cool is this model my friends...wow! I recommend purchasing this beauty from either Hobby Link Japan or Hobby Search. I have traded with both of these companies and they are Grade A+.
Bandai will likely make new models for The Earth Defense Forces if YAMATO 2199 Series 2 is made. Based on how well YAMATO 2199 Series 1 has been received, this is probably going to happen in 2015. I will buy everything that is made in 1/1000 scale of course, but these classic non-scale and 1/7000 scale models will work just fine until then. I may keep these models as early versions of the new ships, or mess them up gloriously to use as huge debris fields if (when...Ha!) the new Bandai toys come forth to us.
By the way my friends, if you are weary of ordering from Japan, do not worry about it, and keep in mind that you will save from 25% to 50% off from Hobby Link Japan in most cases. I paid $75 (includes EMS tracking) for the twenty five models pictured above, where as just the large version of The Andromeda is priced at thirty to sixty dollars here in the states and that is if you hunt a bit for it. These are all the older classic models granted, but the brand new models are also 10% to 25% off or more. If you are building fleets as I am, then ordering from Japan is the way to go.
Note: if you are not schooled on the Bandai Mini Kits, many of them come with two models in the same package, or have a cool little extra plane or something else you will probably like.
The Ratt has made some very nice X-WING Templates and Tokens, which are now for purchase from Cog O' Two. There are all sorts of standard and special tokens at the COT shop, so check it out. These are some of the best bits of gear I have seen done for X-WING.
Bandai is a monster. These wonderful people seem to be tireless...judging by how often they release new model kits! I am very happy about the way they are handling our beloved YAMATO 2199 Range. Last year Bandai released a dozen core models plus extras in seven kits, and we can expect the same regularity in 2014. From January to May there will be four large ship kits. These include all three of the Garmillas Astro Carriers, and The Halzerad-class Astro Battleship with a Delamaya-class Amphibious Assault Ship. As usual with Bandai, there will be several cool extra kits included with these core models.
In this image taken at the 2013 All Japan Model & Hobby Show , you can clearly see how Bandai is packaging the new Astro Carriers. Each kit comes with 21 Garmillas Fighters and 21 of that Carrier's specialized fighter-bomber plane. These kits also include a Mecha Scale (1/270) version of the specialized plane. Now if Bandai would releases some of the EDF Planes too, then I could do some X-WING Dogfighting...
According to Amazon Japan The Lambea will be available by January 18 and The Bulgrey follows on February 28. The Shuderg is scheduled for May.
I am very happy about these new models. Now I can build Earth Defense Force and Garmillas Imperial Astro Fleets in 1/1000 scale. Thinking about how cool these little planes are going to look as they zoom around the larger ships in deadly swarms...well, it makes me smile.
While Bandai has the triple assault of the Astro Carriers (with their fleet of one hundred and sixty two fighters and bombers) going, they are also releasing The Halzerad-class Astro Battleship with a Delamaya-class Amphibious Assault Ship; because they are Bandai, and they can make it happen...Baby!
The Halzerad-class Astro Battleship and Delamaya-class Amphibious Assault Ship bring The Garmillas Warships Sets to four in April! As of this posting, we do not know what the cool bonus kit will be...which is why we are happily confronted with a dreaded question mark in the April slot.
I will post more information on these awesome kits as it becomes available...
I have been keeping a close watch for information on new STAR WARS products since I began to collect X-WING. It is fun to learn about the new toys before you can add them to the collection, and It is also part of the hobby to snoop around on line.
Most of us already know about The New Alliance Capitol Ships and The Imperial Aces. By all accounts we should be able to own all of these wonderful models no later than April!
I finally found a very nice and clean large image of the Tantive, during a recent Google snooping session. I was going to add some cute effects to this picture to make it look like the ship is in space or some such neat background, but the clear real world environment shows us the scale, which to my eye is right on with the Kenner Blockade Runnersome of us already own.
Now for some news many of us may not be aware of I think. Gale Force Nine is going to release New STAR WARS X-WING Terrain!
Judging by theG9 AsteroidsBoxed Set the New STAR WARS Terrain will be very nice, and very expensive, but the good stuff is not suppose to be cheap. I do not have an exact release date...yet.
I will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
