Tuesday 29 November 2016

Black Friday Event now finished and IonFan orders shipping out!

The Four Day event we held for Black Friday Weekend is now over and ended.  I want to thank all of the wargamers and hobbyists who placed an order or several with us for miniatures and books and so forth across our website and by email.


We are making, packing and shipping out orders as of yesterday and we will be doing so all of this week and at the start of next week too until we are all caught up.  Most orders will be dispatched on Friday of this week.  If you have a question please get in touch with your order number and we will assist you.

Visit us HERE.

December is just around the corner and we will have more for you to see before the Christmas break begins but more on that when the month begins.

The currently monthly free miniature IMP39 Grim Reaperbot has been a big hit but you only have until we change over on 1st December to get it in your order for free.  Go HERE to see the Year Collections and current free and sets.

GBS

Thursday 24 November 2016

Black Friday Four Day Event is here! Free Shipping and Gift!

The time has come. Get your campaign supplies for the winter from us over the next four days with our Black Friday weekend offers. The event is composed of the following promotions which can be applied to EVERTHING on the website (except digital downloads). All orders over 12.00GBP product value will be shipped free postage worldwide AND all orders with 20.00GBP or more product value automatically get an extra 5.00GBP gift of miniatures selected by us and related to what you purchase. Offers end around 9am GMT Tuesday 29th November (to give maximum time to our American and other friends). Go HERE and browse. 


Superb offers! You need do nothing more than just add to your cart and checkout. Please note the shipping offer is no standard mail and airmail; the signed for option remains at its flat 10.00GBP charge. Select during checkout. These offers apply to all of our physical products including all bundles and deals and all of the new releases such as those this month as below. 


A free miniature in every order!  IMP39 The Grim Reaperbot.  Learn more HERE.  



The brand new Grav Bike and bundles for it too!  Learn more HERE.


Get all variants of the Duxis Battlesuit at 25% off this month!  See them HERE and HERE.

The offers are run across all three of our websites. Alternative Armies, 15mm.co.uk and The Ion Age. If you wish to combine products from different websites you can do so. All you need to do is email us on sales@15mm.co.uk (we are centralising emails of this manner this time) with your name, address, paypal email address and list of desired codes (if over 20.00GBP please indicate what type of free gift you would desire based on your list). We will respond and send you a paypal invoice to pay. All emails received during the offer will qualify even if the orders are not completed during the period of the offer. You can select the Daily Deal and or Weekly Deal on the Alternative Armies website and the Festive Range on 15mm.co.uk. 

Thanks for Reading,

 GBS

Thursday 17 November 2016

Fauconbergs Raiders and the usefulness of Fear

There is weird and strange out on the edges of the Prydian Precinct and it falls to some of the less famous and smaller Companies to police these places.  Sometimes with great results and sometimes not so great results.  The fate of the Fauconbergs Raiders at Govian Prime was something worse.  The Florians abound. Created by and written for you by Aris Kolehmainen they are his notion of an exotic force in Patrol Angis and this is their story.

You can download this article as a PDF from our Drop Box by clicking HERE.


The Prydian Precinct
13 Fauconbergs Raiders

A letter to the Princess Cyon, marked “Urgent // For Her Majesty's Eyes Only”

Your Highness,

As requested, I have delved into the archives, as well as compiled reports of what is being spoken of among your forces, in light of recent events, as “Fauconbergs raiders”.

In brief; reports of the “Raiders” have been cropping up infrequently throughout known space. These encounters are, at this time, seemingly random. I should also make note that many of these sightings have some sort of, dare I say, “supernatural” element to them. It is my further belief that most of these “odd” happenings may be some ancient technology long forgotten, or perhaps merely illusions built from the stress of being on the front lines in times like these. We should not give ourselves into superstition and 'magical tales' so quickly.

I present to you this report of the most recent encounter with the Raiders which has hence given them their namesake. A general overview of what happened in the nearly two weeks that Govian Prime went off the grid has been compiled below from a variety physical of evidence.

The world of Govian Prime is settled well in the heart of the League of Canlaster, a tranquil planet of lush jungles, shallow blue pools, and warm days. A dense iron core meant that the magnetic field of the planet was strong enough to repel most of all the radiation from it’s local star meaning long sunny days, and a stunted evolution of native species (all of which were quickly overtaken by more agreeable fauna and flora). Set so far away from the civil war, and so deep in its home territory, It was an ideal pleasure world.

On a day in mid-Autumn, patrons of the the pleasure planet noted that the sky seemed unusually dark, and the temperature had cooled somewhat. For twelve days, the sky became progressively darker, and the air cooler. Animals seemed to go into hiding, and the trees began to change from lush green to oranges and reds before all leaves turned brown and fell to the ground. Many of those dwelling on the world became concerned and attempted to contact the local League garrison, but to their dismay it seemed that all communications off world had been cut off.

It is from the words of the Baron James Fauconberg, that we are able to somewhat piece together some semblance of what happened. The following account was transcribed from a data-pad located in the crumbled husk of a building, (we assume the Baron's Palace) which we were able to smuggle off-world [Report: CMO-00251.1_X]. 

Though not my place to assume such things, Your Grace may find this disturbing.

***
[Recording begins]

0700
It has been thirteen days since the atmospheric disturbances. This morning we noticed the glow from what once was the lush and beautiful Hovold Jungle, though now it reminds me more of a boneyard. Just grey-brown skeletons of what were once beautiful trees. There is a smell in the air, a spiciness I can’t quite place. I see in those woods some large, orange plants, I don’t recall them from yesterday. Will send a group to investigate later. Too much piled on my desk for too early in the morning.

0730
Guests report laughter from somewhere, like women cackling at them. They are disturbed, but so far “it is only the stress of this oddness getting to you” has seemed to settle many minds, or at least shut them up.

0815
I hear it too. Where is it coming from. And that smell?

0945
An explosion was reported at Sector 148, no casualties reported, but we also haven’t been able to enable any form of contact with the sector. The laughter is getting more frequent, it seems to come from the walls itself. Women cackling, men bellowing, it’s as if I am being mocked by unseen critics. I will have none of it, whoever is pulling this prank will pay dearly for this.

1011
Staff have reported the orange growths in the wood have begun to move. I don’t understand, but I’ve told all staff to form into their militia groups, and have sent patrons to their quarters.

1050
The glow is getting brighter out there, that sickly green. What is in those woods?

I have received reports from across Govian Prime that militias have formed, and ISV’s and coat vehicles are at 70% activated. I too have armed myself. My father’s pistol, it served him well.

Truth be told, I have never lead men in combat before, and I still  pray I won’t have to. 

[Instant of static, possibly laughter, a whispering voice is barely audible]

What...?

1101
Why won’t they show themselves?

[Similar static/laughter, louder]

DO NOT MOCK ME [Pistol fired, once].

No... No. I must get hold of myself

1259
By the throne…

[chittering and sloshing noises]

Oh by the throne…

[Pistol fire followed by a wet pop. This repeats four more times, estimated five successful kills]

They’re like… sentient plants, great orange globes with glowing eyes and twisted mouths… They killed my clerk. Their arms seem to shoot some kind of thorns but they only seem lethal at very close range, but they…

[sound of vomiting]

They seem to have swarmed him, he’s… he looks rotted. What have they done…? I need to leave. Need to escape.

[explosion in distance, very clear feminine laughter from distance.]

(Whispering) Go away…

1300
[Female voice, unable to make out words spoken]

(Whispering) Couldn’t make it out, more of those orange plant things, women in armor with tall hats, they guided them told them where to go, what to do. They obeyed, obeyed like a well-trained dog.

[Something crashes to the ground, wood splinters]

They’re getting close, they overran the militia, they projected the screams of the dying back though our communicators along with the laughter [something shatters].
One clip left, going to 

[female cackles/laughter, voice heard faintly in background, “My Lord Baron”. Deep male voice replies unable to make out the words] 

try and fend them off, will leave this pad recording.

[Yelling and a single shot fired, clatter noise, assumed that at this point the Fauconberg has dropped his pistol]

(Whimpering) No no no no no… don’t… don’t… what do you want? Who.. What… What are you?

[there is a wet chop and the sound of a man screaming]

(Masculine voice, gravely, seems to resonate) Horror… everlasting...

[There is a loud cracking noise and recording ends]

***

For the last three years, we have received reports of raids similar to that of Fauconbergs Raiders, going by different names depending on garrison, (the 11th Salvide reported a “Legion of Terror”, the Prydian 44th stated a brief skirmish with “Wytches” and their army of sentient plant soldiers, and going back in the record, we find numerous tales of the “Damned” or “Geist” Legion).

One connecting factor is that all reports note that the leader is apparently a man of some impressive build in antiquated Alwite armor that is rent and damaged, and a skeletal visage.

[Note: The reports says that the armor is worn by a living skeleton, but that seems frankly  outlandish]

I will update your Highness further as more information comes to light, but for now, we must remain vigilant as always.

Forever in your service,

- Hal Donavain, Grand Archivist





I have used IAF016 Retained Post Delta and IAF030 Duxis Battlesuits as well as monthly free miniatures for this force.  They were then converted as you can see.

Fielding this Force in Patrol Angis

The raiders play hard on psychological warfare, and so should you! Fauconbergs Raiders play on fear, and forcing your opponent to reevaluate their strategy every single turn. You can turn the tide of a game with well placed Minstrel shot, keep that opposing close combat unit from getting too close, or even scare them right off the board!

Wytches and the Undead. Fauconbergs 
Raiders MUST utilize the following rules:
  • Any demi/squad/fire team/etc. with support weapons must use at least one Minstrel Taser or Pardoner Flame Projector
  • All infantry units must be lead by a single Banneret with the Mystic ability. The Banneret is not restricted to the above rule for special weapons
  • Callsign Taranis: Units that have the ability to, must take Blinding Light Rounds

These small considerations aside, you have no force restrictions. Every unit that was slain or captured, finds new service in the Raiders. This is a great opportunity for simple concepts like “zombie militia” or an all female unit of “Retained Wytches”. When I was coming up with conversions for my own army, it was even suggested I could do a “Headless Horseman” by simply decapitating one of my Khamels and adding some flames to the model, (I’m tempted).

To put it simply: If it feels like something you would see on Halloween night, then you’re on the right path. 

Something Wicked...
The Ion Age provides some great one-off’s that fit this theme in their Yearly Collections, such as Year One’s “The Knight of the Dead” (who is the perfect mini to represent the Phantom Baron). I personally love Year Three’s Florian Pumpkin Spore. The arms are easily poseable, and they make for a great replacement for close combat centred infantry.


You may have noticed the number heading this article.  This ties to the uniform reference on our Uniforms of the Prydian Precinct Poster which shows in detail thirty different uniforms of troops. See it HERE.

This concludes the introduction to the Fauconbergs Raiders and we hope you enjoyed it and are inspired to take your place in the wars raging across the Prydian Precinct.

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Thursday 10 November 2016

IAF126 Burgeon Grav Bike 15mm pack and bundles released!

The Ion Age is delighted to make our only new release for November with the final code featured in Patrol Angis which needed new miniatures in play. The IAF126 Burgeon Grav Bike gives your Retained Knights the fast mobility they want on the battlefields of the Prydian Precinct.  We have the pack which contains a bike with rider, bike on its own and rider on foot and you can also choose the normal three packs with a saving plus single poses from the pack too.  On top of this we have two bundles now on the website one for this new anti-gravity bike and the other on the IAF128 Afara Strider mecha kits.  Go HERE or read on for more.


VENTUS MODEL 201 STEED
Among the ranks of the Retained Knights you will find the Burgeon. These knights are as adamant about the Code Gallant as any other but they take upon themselves an additional vow of loyalty that is beyond the duty of any others. For the Burgeon are the masters of the steeds. They are the riders of an animal which has no heart or legs but rather instead has an engine and thrusters which beat with as much if not more power than any creature's could. The Burgeon ride into battle upon the semi-sentient Ventus Model 201 Steed which is a unique type of repulsar bike.

The Ventus is the creation of the foundation days of New Glastonbury and the relic seeking adventures into the now legendary Tor which orbits that golden hue planet. Those first seekers of what would become the seat of the Council of the Addan found many treasures and clues which set them on a path towards bringing peace and stability to a bleeding precinct. Among those treasures were bronze coloured boxes none of which were as large as a human head and which seemed inert and indeed solid. However a chance event led to a fantastic discovery. These boxes were alive! Not life in the way of biology but rather a life of bare sentience like an infant awaiting lessons in all things needed for adulthood. Named Ventus after their love of movement the boxes took to a possessor in a way never seen before. Once a person had held a box for more than a few hours and had spoken to it the Ventus became bonded to them and would accept the voice of no other. It emerged that the Ventus was only semi-sentient as it could learn only that which it was taught by its owner and never had ideas or notions of its own.

A robotic companion and that was the way it would have stayed except for another discovery which was that if you linked a Ventus into a machine it could control that machine no matter what its size or complexity or purpose. As a result Ventus were given to ship masters and to Knight Errants as well as to Nobles who were willing to pay a great deal of coin for them. There is a cavern somewhere within the New Glastonbury Tor in which new Ventus are created by the command of the robed guardians of the ancient rock. It is a mark of great honour and within the Code to be called to the Chamber of the Ventus to receive a blank minded box and for your voice to be the first it hears. As with a great deal of the Tor it is beyond the knowledge of the Prydian Precinct the manner in which Ventus are created as they seem to literally materialise out of thin air.

From those beginnings the bronze boxes have spread just as the Code has spread. Ventus operated starships equipped with Ancep Drive at the word of their master and were integrated into Alwite powered armour as system securing companions. The greatest success though came with the development of the Steed. A body for the Ventus to sit amid and operate for a Retained Knight of the Burgeon who rode upon it. As a result each Ventus Model 201 Steed became the greatest friend to its knightly master and meant a speed and responsiveness beyond what any mortal man could hope to match as well as a loyalty no mere machine could emulate. The death of a Burgeon leaves a Ventus with no master and means that it must be removed and destroyed for its own sake while the destruction of a Ventus can leave a knight grief stricken as with the loss of a dear family member.
Academy Auto-Trainer Series 02, New Glastonbury, 4308 IC


IAF126 Burgeon Grav Bike Pack
We are super happy to release the next bike code for the Ion Age 15mm Range.  Following on from the IAF028 Khamel Tracked Bike we have the Retained riders of the semi-sentient steed the Ventus. A sleek and speedy vehicle.  This code contains three white metal miniatures which are the Bike with Retained Rider, Bike with no rider and Retained bike rider on foot.  This means you can field your anti-gravity bikes with great flexibility and three different modes.  The bike comes with a separate Valerin 9Mw Laser which can be left off or mounted on the front of the bike.  As always this code can be bought as a pack or as single miniatures or select the three packs and save 10% option on the page. Go HERE.  Price 5.00GBP per pack. 


Burgeon Anti-Gravity Bike Bundles
We know that many IonFans have been awaiting the arrival of the new bike and so we have created a great bundle offer.  There are three bundles one upon each of the following.  Ten Bikes with Rider, Ten Bikes with no Rider and Ten Riders on Foot.  Each bundle gives you 20% off single purchase price and allows the creation of a large force with a mighty saving.  Go HERE and use the drop down menu to choose your bundle.


Afara Strider mecha Bundle
Earlier this year we released our first light mecha kit the IAF128 Afara Strider in three different variants.  Easy to assemble and to convert it has proven a firm favourite this season and while we offer it HERE with single and buy all three and save 10% we have placed on to the website by IonFan's request the Mega Bundle!  The mega bundle contains ten mecha kits which is three of each variant plus one more randomly included.  You get 20% off the single price and free worldwide shipping on this bundle.  Go HERE.


Information Burst! 
This month's free miniature is a superb character robot the Grim Reaperbot.  Standing 16mm to the eye line it is a titanium skeleton with cloak and scythe. There is a growing page on the Ion Age website where the current and all former IMP series free miniatures are shown so that you can see what came before. Enjoy looking at what came before. Now online IMPS02 Spooky Set which has all four Halloween themed miniatures in one code.  We have now made our releases for the month. We will also have an article with a fright theme about a Prydian Precinct faction plus the last Friday of November will see us join up with Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk to make our four day Black Friday offer.  This is a super offer and we will tell all one week before it goes live. 


Lastly we have a new monthly special...this time on our great Duxis Battlesuit favoured by Retained Knights.  25% off all variants of this modular battlesuit including five different ranged weapons and three melee versions. Enjoy!

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Tuesday 8 November 2016

The Galactic Warrior of Dundee comes to The Ion Age!

Allison over at the Painting Agency Blog has put up a new Ion Age themed article which appeals to all those who are into pure space opera wargaming.  All hail the Galactic Warrior of Dundee known as Angus McFife XIII !  You can see the original article HERE.


In short the tale is thus...

Angus McFife the Thirteenth, king of the Intergalactic Empire of Fife, is the hero of the ridiculous(ly awesome) concept album Space 1992: Rise Of The Chaos Wizards by power metal band Gloryhammer.  Armed with the Hammer of Glory ("powered by lasers entwined in a star") and aided by his allies the Hollywood Hootsman and the Knights of Crail, he battles the evil space wizard Zargothrax, who intends to destroy the universe. 




An excellent conversion and brilliant painting of a 15mm Retained Knight from IAF008 Retained Post Charlie.  Pose One I think.


Well done Allison!

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Thursday 3 November 2016

PIA006 Eat at Happy Burger poster released!

The wargamer reaction to the Happy Burger Bots which feature in our monthly free range has been fantastic.  The miniatures, little snippets of fiction and artwork have led us here at The Ion Age to this new release.  A poster from the latest Robo Cola campaign from the Happy Burger restaurants of the Prydian Precinct.  Excellent!  See our posters HERE or read on for more.


Eat at Happy Burger

More than three hundred million cans of Robo Cola are sold across the Precinct every single day and their taste goes perfectly with the 'Meat-tay-eat' burgers sold alongside them. Taste alone makes this possible with the people of a thousand cities flocking to the booths and eateries for treats. Taste is backed up with billions of posters put up everywhere there is a space.  From the transit lanes to the agri-zones as well as spaceports and hospitals these posters promote Happy Burger.  They can also be bought for your own hab walls for a modest fee from behind the counter. Just as your server.


Digitally drawn by our lead designer Sam Croes this sixth of our poster prints was made locally here in Scotland on high quality 200gsm paper using rich inks.  Its a premium product to grace your wargaming walls with.  Bare or in a frame.  Supplied in a purpose designed postal mailing tube.  The image is exactly A3 size (300mm by 420mm) while the full post it sits on has a white framing border making the total dimensions 320mm by 450mm.

As with all of our other products we offer you several purchase options.  You can purchase one poster print at a great price or three of the same one and automatically save 10% on screen.  You can also get the poster print signed by the artist. Go HERE.


Information Burst! 
This month's free miniature is a superb character robot the Grim Reaperbot.  Standing 16mm to the eye line it is a titanium skeleton with cloak and scythe.  One free in every order. There is a growing page on the Ion Age website where the current and all former IMP series free miniatures are shown so that you can see what came before. Enjoy looking at what came before. Above you can see the now online IMPS02 Spooky Set which has all four Halloween themed miniatures in one code.  November 2016 will see a great new release with the final code from the Patrol Angis army lists the Retained Grav Bike pack! We will also have an article with a fright theme about a Prydian Precinct faction plus the last Friday of November will see us join up with Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk to make our four day Black Friday offer.  This is a super offer and we will tell all one week before it goes live.   


Lastly we have a new monthly special...this time on our great Duxis Battlesuit favoured by Retained Knights. 25% off all variants of this modular battlesuit including five different ranged weapons and three melee versions. Enjoy!

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Tuesday 1 November 2016

IMP39 Grim Reaperbot free for all November 2016!

Welcome to the spooky month at The Ion Age and this is also the month of...shudder...scream...Black Friday Weekend...so it is an epic month to get with us in 15mm space opera wargaming.  November is here and that means a new free monthly special miniature.  Ladies and Ghouls I present to you the Grim Reaperbot!


“Happy Burger does not often put a foot wrong when it comes to marketing their food.  Well, there was that incident with the rocket powered skates on the drive through dinastations but that was a...fairly...isolated incident.  However they did put both feet and indeed their legs in the wrong place with the Grim Reaperbot campaign.  It was a nice idea.  I mean who does not love having a custom bot cut the top from a promotional Happy Burger meat tube held by the customer with the chance to win a prize in the process.  Sadly the titanium scythes the Reaperbots were fitted with were a bit long for the job and often they overshot the tube held up by the customer.  More than fifty thousand dead in one morning across the Precinct.  So many lawsuits and then quickly hiding the bots. After the Gurtan Activation the bots were taken out of mothball and scrapped but some were never put in storage and had simply wandered off into the cities.  Shame...it was a real tasty meat tube that year.”



Each November we release a spooky themed monthly miniature and now the thirty ninth month sees IMP39 Grim Reaperbot come to the series.  It is our forth November monthly and is a 15mm white metal miniature which is free in every order every time all month before being retired. This miniature is automatically put into every order at the rate of one per order regardless of order value. It can also be bought in any amount on the monthly IMP page of the website for this month only too before being withdrawn on the first of next month. We are into Year Four now and if you missed it you can see the Year Three Collection on the website. 


This month's miniature is a superb character robot by Sam Croes.  Standing 16mm to the eye line it is a titanium skeleton with cloak and scythe. There is a growing page on the Ion Age website where the current and all former IMP series free miniatures are shown so that you can see what came before. Enjoy looking at what came before. Above you can see the now online IMPS02 Spooky Set which has all four Halloween themed miniatures in one code.


We ask you to sign up for a website account with us on your first order. Why? For one reason only. Not to send you emails (we never will. If you want our emails sign up for our Mailchimp list on the right top of the blog home page) or to pester you; but only to keep track of the Reward Points that all orders with us earn. Reward Points through our online partner Sloyalty which can be used once accumulated to get discounts or free stuff at any point in the future. Learn more about this HERE. Every order earns Reward Points! Yes free extra value. Part of our promise to keep the fun in wargaming. 


Information Burst! 
This is our first burst for the month and here are the facts to joy you up!  November 2016 will see a great new release with the final code from the Patrol Angis army lists the Retained Grav Bike pack! We will also have a brand new artwork poster which gives you the 'Robo Cola' campaign from Happy Burger!  We will also have an article with a fright theme about a Prydian Precinct faction plus the last Friday of November will see us join up with Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk to make our four day Black Friday offer.  This is a super offer and we will tell all one week before it goes live.   Lastly we have a new monthly special...this time on our great Duxis Battlesuit favoured by Retained Knights.  25% off all variants of this modular battlesuit including five different ranged weapons and three melee versions.  The offer is now live and you can read more about the Duxis on our blog HERE


As always if you are reading this bulletin later in the month or further into the future please do have a look at our blog and use it as a time machine to read all the excellent content that is there going right back to our start. Try way back  in November 2013 for instance! 

Thanks for your support and for enjoying The Ion Age! 

GBS