Shia Khan Empire 28mm Ion Age many new releases!

A bloody massive release today with not only the very last of the original 1990’s 28mm Ion Age Range being restored in new molds but also many new models too.  Legionary Gun Team along with the original two portable weapons and two further versions of each and a new propulsion system too.  Our final releases until the free Icon in every order ends on 3rd October.  These releases see us complete the upscaling of the 15mm Ion Age Range portable weapons.

If you would like to read in depth about the Selene and Hypnus and their use by the Shia Khan Empire then see this new ARTICLE.  Above a Hypnus platform on anti grav unit next to a hulking Warlord.

Six new platforms in 28mm scale to add to your Legions in support of your Legionaries, Malig Goblins, Betrayers and others in their task of conquering Humanity.  Every portable weapon and the anti gravity base is a value pack with saving and the Legion Gunners are a value pack and singles as with all other nearly 290 poses in the range.

IB80 Legionary Gun Team (2 Miniatures) (IA244, IA245) 

IB86 Khanate Anti Gravity Propulsion Unit (goes with IB79,IB81 to IA85) (includes hover base)

IB79 Mars 20mm Chain Cannon Selene Portable Weapon Platform (kit)

IB81 Maia Scatter Cannon Selene Portable Weapon Platform (kit)

IB82 Juno Laser Cannon Selene Portable Weapon Platform (kit)

IB83 Hydra Swarm Cannon Hypnus Portable Weapon Platform (kit)

IB84 Helios ADS Hypnus Portable Weapon Platform (kit)

IB85 Triple Jupiter Hypnus Portable Weapon Platform (kit)

Remastered and returned to the expanding 28mm Ion Age science fiction range are the original two terror robots known as Psycoborgs for the effect they have on Human troops. At 60mm tall these mechanical sentinels are heavily armed and very hard to stop. Unlike Maligs and Beotan Lyconthropes who rely on savagery and sheer numbers or the Legionaries who make use of skill these robots are silent in their actions.

Now with the restoration of the entire original range back to the website we are embarking on a raft of new infantry poses for the Prydians and the Shia Khan with something greatly asked for appearing in coming months...an entire platoon of them...

Thanks for Reading!

Selene and Hypnus Portable Weapons of the Khanate

Taken from Academy Auto Trainer Series 66 produced on New Glastonbury in 4337IC in the aftermath of the Return of the Khanate.

The first encounters with infantry support grade weapon platforms came with the initial break out from the Belkus Depression by those Shia Khan forces which had followed the digging machines.  Though a watch was kept on the edges of the crater, which has once been the famed passages of the labyrinth, by planetary defence platoons they were rapidly overwhelmed by the aliens which poured out into the sunlight.  The digging machines had no more than cleared their drive sections of the soft dirt and Legionaries as well as accursed Maligs followed them.  Being some distance off due to the background radiation left over by the detonation of the fusion core the defence troopers had time to made transmissions back to Pelacan city to inform and then call for reinforcements.  What was not expected from vids and audio from the gateway chamber was the immediate reach the enemy had.  It was the first encounter with code name Selene and code name Hypnus portable weapon platforms.

Floating forwards at a steady pace with two alien operators running alongside each of them the Selene platforms opened fire first upon elements of the 3rd Pelacan Regiment at a range beyond their ability to strike back.  A barrage of 20mm cannon shells and laser beams were followed by the shrieking rage of 12.7mm rounds by the thousand and it killed many of the troopers who were unable to find thick enough cover.  It was however once the aliens drew closer and the troopers loosed off anvil rounds and bursts of grenades from their Moth type 12's that the other Khanate platforms entered the fray.  The Hypnus have a single operator who seems to be bonded to the weapon platform by a chair behind a thick gun shield.  The weapons carried by the Hypnus are dangerous in their own right giving off in many cases a degree of radiation or gene potential damage.  Atomic Destabilisers and Triple Plasma mounts tore through Aketon armour and the hulls of a half dozen Steornede Battlesuits at close range with ease.  This led to the loss of the craters edge and marked the start of the remorseless advance of the aliens.  Portable weapon platforms have proven tough to deal with without armoured support and the Khanate makes great use of them especially in urban areas to hold taken junctions and structures.  

There are six primary kinds of Portable Weapon used by the Shia Khan Empire in support of its Legions. The Selene is more plentiful and has been observed with Legionary Gunners as well as Maligs and even Betrayers.

“During the ancient Ban of Prejudice the Espaten was a powerful tool for support in the street fights which raged in underground cities across the Precinct.  In recent years the original gun has been present in all campaigns and it has been broadened as well.  To deal with Battlesuits and larger infantry formations as well as indirect fire missions there are now six variants.  These are  the same weapon systems as used by the new Havelock Type 57 being rolled out to Muster Regiments right now.”  Academy Auto-Trainer Series 07, New Glastonbury, 4325IC

The Prydian Army as well as the Marcher Barons and Condot Companies have an array of Portable Weapons to support their troops.

Combat Robots and Sentient Machines in The Ion Age read this Article on our Blog.

A special article for The Ion Age which tells the story of Combat Robots, the Grima series from concept to miniatures in two scales plus the story from the universe explaining why Artificial Intelligence (Sentient Machines) are outlawed in Prydian Space. 

HOTT at Colours 2024 the day plus results and sponsored prizes

It was our pleasure to sponsor the recent tournament with prizes and to give this account of the results of the day.  Enjoy the read and if you would like to approach us for sponsorship please send your details to sales@alternative-armies.com and we will see what can be done.  We have an array of HOTT 2nd Edition 24AP Armies which include all needed miniatures with saving and free element bases.  All miniatures taken from the HOT 15mm Fantasy Range and Tabletop Miniatures 15mm Range.

HOTT @ Colours

Fourteen players gathered (14th September) for a 15mm Hordes of the Things tournament at the annual Colours Wargames Show in the south of the UK, hosted by Newbury and Reading Wargames Society. Taking place in the Newbury Racecourse Grandstand, traders and historical demo games predominated. We were fortunate to be provided with an excellent, well lit area for our Hott competition, and the players graced this with some great looking armies and scenics.

Starting at 10 a.m., I organised a total of five rounds, and by the end of Round 4 there were four players in contention for the top spot.  After a tense Round 5 Mark Skelton emerged the winner, scoring four wins from his five games, using mean-looking Aliens of Acheron.

Alternative Armies had kindly sponsored the event, with some neat 15mm scale models, and NRWS chairman Colin assisted with the presentations. Honours went to 1st (Mark Skelton), 2nd (Martin Myers), 3rd (Pete Duckworth) and Last Place (Simon Finney, taking the much sought after ‘Thrower of Ones’ trophy). An additional prize for Best Presented Army, a tough choice with the great standard of armies brought along, went to Keith McGlynn’s colourful  ‘Dobbies Revenge’ force. Other armies spotted included everything from Don Quixote to Space Orks, Japanese Fantasy, Garden Gnomes and Riders of Rohan. In Hott, ‘anything goes’, so imagination and creativity can run riot.

Many thanks to Gavin at Alternative Armies for his kind sponsorship, which was much appreciated, to all at NRWS for the opportunity to play at such a superb venue, and to the great players for making the day a success. 

Further details can be found on this public Facebook group.

Here are the detailed results of the tournament:

The Newbury and Reading Wargames Society had provided an excellent, well lit space for the fourteen competitors to play, and the competitors graced this with some great looking armies (we used 40mm frontage / “15mm” scaled rules).

We were playing a total of five rounds, and by the end of Round 4 there were four players in contention for the top spot. A pseudo-Swiss Chess Round 5 followed, at the end of which Mark Skelton emerged the winner, acquiring 20 points for four wins out of five games.

NRWS’s family team of Colin Cockburn and granddaughter Bobbie kindly assisted with the presentations, trophies going to 1st, 2nd and Last (‘Thrower of Ones’) place. NWRS’s Robert helped out by judging the Best Presented Army, a difficult task due to the great standard of Hott armies brought along.

Prizes awarded were:

Winner : Mark Skelton, Alternative Armies 15mm Skeleton Hott Army.

2nd : Martin Myers, Alternative Armies 15mm Dwarf Command pack.

3rd : Pete Duckworth, Alternative Armies 15mm Sitting Dragon.

‘Thrower of Ones’ : Simon Finney, Alternative Armies 15mm Griffon.

Best Presented Army : Keith McGlynn, Alternative Armies 15mm Scenics.

Final points scores 

(based on 5pts win, 2pts winning draw, 1pt draw, 0 pts loss).

    Mark Skelton ……..20

    Martin Myers ……..19

    Pete Duckworth ….18

    Colin O’Shea ………15 (2 generals killed)

    Baldie (aka Lee).….15 (1 general killed)

    Neil Mason …………12

    Keith McGlynn …….11 (1 general killed)

    Connor Truby ………11 (0 generals killed)

    Mark Fry ……………..10

    Peter Card ……………9

    David Cox …………….6

    Pete James ………….5 (22 AP destroyed)

    Jane Williams ………5 (12 AP destroyed)

    Simon Finney ……….1

(Tie break = head-to-head, Strongholds, Generals, Army Points)

Armies Used :

Mark Skelton - Locals of LV-426 (‘Aliens’ of Acheron theme)

Martin Myers - Don Quixote de La Mancha

Pete Duckworth - Dorothy and Chums (Wizard of Oz)

Colin O’Shea - Early Bornu (African Sahel)

Baldie (aka Lee ) - Baldie’s Boyz, Space Orks

Neil Mason - Garden Gnomes

Keith McGlynn - Dobbie’s Revenge (Clark Ashton Smith inspired)

Connor Truby - Orcs and Dino’s

Mark Fry - Riders of Rohan

Peter Card - Ghost Dance (Native Americans)

David Cox - Barbarians (Copplestone)

Pete James - Japanese Fantasy

Jane Williams - Chess

Simon Finney - Orcs

An Alternate Seven Years War using Flintloque Dogmen

With kind permission we share a link to a fantastic ‘Imagi-nations’ blog by a veteran American wargamer of some 45 years of play.  His setting and rules are his own but the miniatures used are all from the World of Valon range.  The blog is called Dog Wars - Alternative Seven Years War and is updated regularly with super pictures and battle reports.  Enjoy

Every article has many images covering the flow of events. The miniatures you see are all from the Pudigrochumberg Dogmen Army with a great many being the favoured 56597 Pudigroan Grenadiers in tall mitres. All Flintloque miniatures come as skirmish sets or units with saving as well as choice of single poses.

The author of the blog welcomes views and input and if you would like to see how the current campaign is progressing then pop on over and say hello.  

There is his previous blog which features Flintloque miniatures as well.  

Thanks for Reading!

Armoured Storm Giant remastered the classic Big Un by Tony Ackland

We are delighted to present one of the biggest metal models in the 1980’s Asgard array and certainly in the Fantasy Monsters (FM) Range.  Welcoming back the ‘big un’ remastered and added to as well as being painted by the talented Studio Maxi Costales.  Almost 90% of the range is now restored.  Below the Armoured Giant faces off against an Elf and Cleric from the Dungeon Adventurers 28mm Range.

FM39 Armoured Storm Giant:  This is a big metal kit which stands 60mm to the top of its head.  Wearing chainmail and cloth armour and a great helm he is in one piece with separate weapons. These are a scabbarded sword, a huge Axe and a mighty round Shield which are to be mounted as you please upon the Giant. Works in any scale of wargaming as large in 28mm, huge in 15mm and titanic in 6mm.

Originally sculpted by Tony Ackland this code has been remastered and newly sculpted Axe, Sword and Shield by Sam Croes replacing the degraded originals which did not survive remastering. Look to FM19 Storm Giant for the counterpart of this metal giant.

Have you seen the restored D6 Dragon Lizard Juggernaut which is the largest single piece of metal we cast?  At 110mm total length and sculpted by Nick Bibby it and its fellows are rather unique creatures as singles and a value set with saving.

Until the start of October the free new model in every shipped out order automatically is VNT54-01 The Icon (small).  It is added by us regardless of what you purchase and you can buy it or other sizes of VNT54 and you will still get it free.

Thanks for Reading!

F23 Wyvern 15mm Tabletop monster restored

A lesser Dragon the Wyvern has no arms and seldom breathes fire.  It is a flying snake with a bite of death.  This monster is common on Fantasy Battlefields and we are delighted to present back to the world a classic.  The 1980’s 15mm scale Tabletop Miniatures F23 Wyvern model. Now on the website.

F23 Wyvern:  A three piece metal miniature.  Body with separate wings.  It is 90mm total length and has an 80mm wing span when assembled.  Shown below alongside 501 Human Wizard and F24 Seven Headed Hydra to demonstrate its size.

This creature joins all of the other restored monsters and beasts in the Tabletop Miniatures 15mm Fantasy Range including Dragons and Arch Demon.  

If you like fantasy skirmish in 15mm scale this range has several super value packs of Human and Dwarf adventurers with many poses (they are as singles in their pack codes too).

Have you seen VNT33 Wyvern Kildane in our 28mm Monsters Range?  This much larger take on a Wyvern comes with a free Human Knight and has a 200mm wing span!

Thanks for Reading!

Five new Espaten Portable Weapon kits for 28mm Ion Age Range

“During the ancient Ban of Prejudice the Espaten was a powerful tool for support in the street fights which raged in underground cities across the Precinct.  In recent years the original gun has been present in all campaigns and it has been broadened as well.  To deal with Battlesuits and larger infantry formations as well as indirect fire missions there are now six variants.  These are  the same weapon systems as used by the new Havelock Type 57 being rolled out to Muster Regiments right now.” Academy Auto-Trainer Series 07, New Glastonbury, 4325IC

Now that we have restored all of the original 28mm Ion Age Range codes in the Prydian Army and added motive units to the existing gun platform as well as new gun teams for Retained Knights and Planetary Militia we have five, yes five, further portable weapon platforms now released.  These five take the 28mm range into line with the 15mm Ion Age Range for portable weapons.  The new codes are:

IB72 Moth 88 Rotary Espaten Portable Weapon (Platform Kit)

IB73 Angis Cannon Espaten Portable Weapon (Platform Kit)

IB74 Bodkin Howitzer Espaten Portable Weapon (Platform Kit)

IB75 Valerin Laser Espaten Portable Weapon (Platform Kit)

IB76 Fretan Railgun Espaten Portable Weapon (Platform Kit)

Each kit has a built in saving of ten percent as all the value packs in the range do.  They are composed of resin and metal pieces and are easy to assemble being approx 50mm by 40mm and 25mm tall.  They will go with any of the gun teams in the range.

Move your guns on the battlefield using IB77 Tracked Espaten Propulsion Unit or IB78 Anti Gravity Espaten Propulsion Unit.  These fit all the weapon platforms.

For those wanting serious numbers with an excellent saving of two miniatures included free then check out the PLATOON PACKS which we have for Retained Knights, Muster, Grima Combat Robots, Legionaries, Betrayers and Malig Goblins.

This is the first of two big release announcements for the 28mm Ion Age Range this month keep your eyes peeled for the second..when the Khanate get their even bigger turn.

Thanks for Reading!

Evil Adventurers ten 28mm miniatures painted by Sporehammer

"Out of the light and in the darkness are the adventurers who would do ill upon the world. Some are savage and some noble with other skilled in abduction and in theft too but all are cruel. Cruel and with a streak of evil in their bones that makes them so. Often in the service of nefarious warlords or skulking dark mages these adventurers love gold above all else and will kill with ease to get it."

We are delighted to announce new molds for CA3 Evil Adventurers and CA4 Evil Adventurers II we add that they are now online as single miniatures and value packs with a saving on the five poses in each. Lastly new pictures of them all painted by the talented Sporehammer over on Instagram.

Ten different 28mm scale metal miniatures originally released in the early 1990’s by Alternative Armies and full of character. Powerful female barbarian and sorceress alongside rogue, thief and warriors all aligned to the bad side of the coin.  An example of a single code is above. See them all and more (such as Halflings and Guild Assassins) in our Adventurers and Wizards range.

The Icon is free in all orders until 3rd October 2024.  You need do nothing but place an order and as long as it ships out (no digital only orders sorry) then VNT54-01 (shown above) will be included for free automatically.  You can purchase it and the other two larger sizes of VNT54 The Icon and you will still get the free one.

By request we have added The Icon to the Erin Celtic Mythology Range alongside the latest Scatter Terrain and the Skull Pile as three single codes.  Enjoy!

We hope you enjoyed the talented brush work skills of Sporehammer!

The Icon free any scale terrain piece in all orders until 3rd October and news

We bid goodbye to the any scale Devilish Imps which were our ‘hella hot’ three month summer giveaway in orders (they join all the previous gifts in the Formally Free Codes pages) and welcome the new and totally free model put in all shipped orders.  Until 3rd October 2024 put in your package automatically (you can purchase it as well and still get a free one) we present The Icon!

The only rule is that your order must be shipped anywhere in the world (no digital download only orders sorry) and it can be as many orders as you wish.  When we say free we mean it.

Above you can see the smallest of the three sizes of the new Icon in the green lands of Erin (with CM10-02 Amergin the Druid) it is this smallest of the three sizes of the Icon which is free auto in shipped orders.  We have now released the entirety of brand new VNT54 The Icon.

VNT54 The Icon:  Carved from ancient stone by hands unknown or not of this world the Icons have glittering gems upon them and strange markings and patterns.  Perhaps a vanished race of men or those from under the seas or the stars made the Icons.  Great any scale battlefield terrain.  Choose from a set of all three or singles or a value pack with saving.  Single piece models in high quality resin as follows giving total height and width across the base of the model.

VNT54-01 The Small Icon (Free Auto in orders until 3rd Oct 2024) is 30mm tall and 15mm across.

VNT54-02 The Medium Icon is 70mm tall and 30mm across.

VNT54-03 The Large Icon is 90mm tall and 45mm across.

Perhaps your brave Milesian Warband has come across these Icons left by the Sidhe?  Perhaps they are high chaotic and your Star Mercs have met them on an alien world?  Or have your Adventurers found them in a glade which steams with powerful magics? 

We show the three sizes of Icon with miniatures so you can set them on your table.  CA7 Classic Fighter in 28mm scale and HOT138 Dwarf Handgunner in 15mm scale for the smallest Icon. The Medium Icon has 28mm CM17-03 Cu Chuliann hero of the Celts and a Tiger Combat Walker from the 6mm Bradley Sci-fi range.  CA1-01 The Magical Youth sits next to the Large Icon and a 15mm scale IAF118 Jade Ape Battlesuit of the Xin from The Ion Age on its other side.

What is coming soon at Alternative Armies?

During the time that VNT54-01 Small Icon is free in orders we will have quite a few releases and restored codes brought back to metal life.  On top of this we will have a couple of hobby related articles.  Firstly we must tell you that the third book in the Patrol Angis series The Khanate Return has sold out its print run. Worry not it will be back in stock in the coming weeks.  We will also have new stock of the Ion Age Posters which have been anticipated.  Produced on high quality paper as before.

The 28mm Ion Age Range will see Espaten Portable Weapon Platform variants to go with the gun teams and also the total release of all Shia Khan portable weapon platforms plus gunners and motive unit so loads of stuff.  We have a 15mm Tabletop Miniatures creature from the 1980’s to follow up on the Hydra and Black Dragon.  Finally of the biggest metal models of the Asgard Fantasy Monster Range will be back after decades away...a big boy indeed.   News on each of these as they happen.

Thanks for Reading!