Mars Attacks!

We Come in Peace (*cough-to enslave you-cough*)

Over the last year I have become an ever increasing fan of 15mm SciFi.

The genre has exploded with fun & inspiring miniatures.

Blogs like Dropship Horizon sure hasn't made it easy to resist either.

My biggest problem has been there is too much of a good thing! There are so many nice miniatures and they're all so seemingly inexpensive when you are used to 28mm gaming, that I want them all!

So how to find one, maybe two.. ok a few to several, factions to pursue & develop?

My guideline has been:

*Do I like the basic infantry & are there several weapon choices to chose from?

*Are there vehicles, monsters, etc that I like that can flesh out the infantry into a nice force?

*Will it be a fun army for looks & play?

The Martians from Khurusan are the first ingredient for my sci-fi, rather pulp Invaders from Mars.

Infantry will be the Khurusan Martians from their Planet 15 range. They're suitably shorter than humans, and have some nice detail. They don't have a variety of weapons, but I plan to paint some guns a different color so they can be Plasma Blasters instead of the normal Ray-guns. In addition, for larger games I'll bulk out their ranks with vassal grunt troops, the savages of the Martian dead seas (khurusan Lhurgg tribesmen) for some close combat capable cheap gun toting troops.

I've added some Reaper Brain Horrors to fill the role that walkers or light attack vehicles would serve, and an even bigger one from Reaper Warlord's line. This model needed to be upgraded to a solid metal base to prevent him from tipping over. But with tentacles, a powerful jaw and untold psychic powers he'll be a match for any heavy walker or battle tank.

Finally I needed some tanks with transport capabilities. There are some nice War of the Worlds style ships out there, as well as pulp saucers, but looking to save a bit of cash I stumbled across some flying saucers on Ebay from Light Force inc. These are awesome. Pictures follow:

The box looks promising...

Change the world with Toys... now we're talking!

The contents: doesn't look too complicated.

Look! It lights up! I got 2 and one seems to work better than the other. the two halves stay together by magnets, so you can get inside to turn it off or change the batteries. I'll have to hand primer it so I can leave this semi-translucent area intact to take advantage of this cool effect.

The inside light mechanism.. see? Proof they come in peace!

I held the two internal parts together with adding green stuff, just to be sure of long-term sturdiness. Green Stuff is like the gamer's Duct Tape.

The finished saucer with (still to be painted) Martian Invader below

Saucer with Overlord and grunts.

I'm not crazy about the flying stand, which is my only big complaint about the model. I may try to use a clear plastic stand down the road. The detail is pretty shallow, but it is a flying saucer so that is fine.

The savages of the Dead Sea ready to fight for their martian rulers.

All Hail our new Martian Overlords!

Rating for E.V.E. Saucer by Atlas Model Company

Casting: 6/10

Cleverness of Design: 9/10

Aesthetics: 8/10