"Khurasan previews Jasmine Throne Foreign Battalions" Topic

Hi, very happy to have a fun preview for you of our upcoming JTFB codes, the first of what I hope will be many.

The initial codes will be two infantry fireteams -- one with sergeant (and these are most commonly Nhagals, the interstellar equivalent of the Cockney sergeant) and five soldiers, the other with five soldiers. Two five-"man" fireteams plus one sergeant typically make up a squad.

Squads are made up of two riflemen (this and other terms suggesting human soldiers are used despite the prohibition against humans serving in the JTFB), a grenadier, a special weaponeer (usually either a sniper or a SAW-equivalent) and a missileman using a heavy missile launcher. The missileman is generally the largest and strongest soldier in the team.

First team (plus sergeant)

Second team

We thing you'll agree that the artists involved in making this range, Iain Colwell as sculptor and Steve Dean as painter, have both done a splendid job!

Looking ahead a bit, we've had a third team sculpted as well, and they are a month or two down the road.

You may notice in the ranks a familiar race from Khurasan's ranges. Obviously an exile, shaping his old course in a country new!

To give them some more flexibility we have had two tank crewmen made.

The JTFB and indeed all the forces of the Jasmine Throne use mostly MDMS vehicles -- the Cane Toad APC, and the Goanna/Taipan Series AFV. These should be available soon in 15mm scale. They also use Nova Respublik vehicles refurbished by MDMS (more on that later as well).

They will be getting some heavier support weapons too, a problem I'll be solving for many of my non-Federal races with one fell swoop -- more on that as it develops….

If you'd like to read some background information on the JTFB, this link to our blog should be helpful:

link

Thanks for looking! Should be released in the next few weeks.

Moer to add to the next order!

Renegade Legion Baby!

Nice work.

I suspect that there will be folks who will want to build up a big force of one species.

An amazing collection of life forms. Very diverse and interestin with several with curious anatomy.

I like the design of the fatigues as well as the poses.

-Eli

What an awesome addition to the Khurasanverse. Nicely done!

Chris K.

They rock!

These are cool, I like the Nhagal, Vulk, Porqasor, Carman and the tank crew best, I really like the tank crewman with the longer neck, would like to see more of those.

Sweet.

Dude, you need to offer a subscription service or something!

Gunner, Steve Dean liked the Camaran and the Slahnah the most. Naturally not everyone will like all the races, but even that might work -- a squad of real soldiers will inevitably include a few men you'd rather not look at!

These have to be my very favorite SciFi forces yet!!!! This is as close as we have gotten to Alien Legion!!!!

My wife is suggesting a miniatures of the month club or possibly direct deposit into Jon's account each month . . . these comments are dripping with sarcasm.

Jeff

My wife is suggesting a miniatures of the month club or possibly direct deposit into Jon's account each month

There is precident for this. Paizo games, an RPG company, allows you to subscribe to their lines with regular releases.

This allows them to predict sales and makes sure that the real fans can get ahold of new products without running into stock issues.

It might be a bit trickier for miniatures which deal with quanitities of a particular item as well as a highly diverse subject matter.

-Eli

Holy Tentacles and Appendages, Batman! These are awesome! Congratulations on what I'm sure will be a very successful line!

Wow, Jeff, coming from you that is quite a compliment!!!

Must…resist…urge…to…Aughhh!!!
How awesome are these figures!
I'm getting ever closer to ordering a trunk load of 15 scifi stuff.

Love the Nhagal and the tankers! Any plans for additional poses?
I think I just started my Christmas list….

Excellent variety in species. Kudos.

Also, can't wait for the MDMS vehicles to hit the market in a big way.

Best,
JBR

Another great release. Well done!

Those are totally awesome!!!!!!!!!

OK, you win. Im going to start 15mm SF. It was the tank crew that really did it. Will there be additional poses for each race?

Al

Perhaps, really depends on how these do. I've put about $2000 into this so far so I'll see if these go, and if they do i'll make more. The idea was to keep making new aliens for each pose, so no two figures are the same, but if they are very successful and there is a big call from buyers for additional poses of the same species I'll of course do that.

…oh my god…

I am at a loss beyond these words.

wow

Jon please stop!
I'll be divorced in no time when our monthly bank statement reaches my wife – WOOT! Minis for a 100$ this month too??!
;)

I need to convert the rest of the club to 15mm sci-fi. They are lovely. Top stuff.

I love these – really great stuff! I hope they go well for you, they deserve to be big sellers.

Very awesome! What a great range!

Very cool, my compliments to Khurasan, Iain and Steve. This range is versatile as it stands but with more to come, well, that gets a thumbs-up/tentacles-up !

Regards, TC.

When oh when oh when .. will the Cane Toad and Goanna be available in 6mm ?? :'(

Oh these all look lovely btw. :)

Totally totally awesome.

jackpot….this will push so many fencesitters into 15mm scifi
wow

Ok, I have to add my applause, if only because of the wonderful image of all these races working together at the squad level.

Although frankly, the supply problems with food and medical aid alone would be nightmarish for such squads, but they are so damned appealing!! They speak volumes of the real potential for sci-fi wargaming, wrapping the unreal in the trappings of the more mundane, (weapons and equipment that look like modern-ish devices,) which adds hugely to the "What the-?!" factor. 10/10!

These are simply awesome, 15mm sci-fi here I come!

So, yeah. As noted before, I was putting together an Alien Legion-style force before you announced these, so I could use all those cool and diverse figs out there. And these sculpts are pretty fantastic. So, well done! Now, take my money.

WOW, Wow, wow. These are simply awesome. I don't really have the words to express how much I like these. And not only that, but I see a fair number of my highly sought non-humanoids mixed in there! Hopefully some of these will be fleshed out with more poses (even new ranges?) but either way thank you Jon for taking the plunge on these.

-Will

They will be getting some heavier support weapons too, a problem I'll be solving for many of my non-Federal races with one fell swoop -- more on that as it develops…

Ooooohhh Jon you tease you!

-Eli

Yesssss! I see some Alien Legion like games in my future!

wow , I loves me some Aliens.

You know what would be fun?

Getting some companies to add one of their figures with this gear. A Quar, a Spug, etc. :)

I suppose there is conversion potential for that. It would be like the ET aliens with a cameo in a Star Wars film.

andy

Jon,

Not only is this a cool line in iteself, it is a great proof of concept for the potential in alien design.

Hopefully this will push the envelope a bit and show people that odd aliens can still be done in useful and effective ways.

There are SIX aliens, right here, that do not have a "rubber suit" alien body. On top of those, there are some variant humanoid forms with non-human stances.

I just love coming back andl ooking at the pics.

I also dig the use of what I like to call "Jim Hensen" aliens like the Camaran and Quar-yan. Aliens that are essentially humanoid but with tails, necks, limb extensions and such added. Not just a guy in a rubber suit, but a guy in a super cool animatronic puppet suit!

-Eli

Love to see the Orintal race grow with their own squad.

Also would love to see some of these figures without weapons, so they could be used as ship crews.

At first I considered making them all non-humanoid aliens, to emphasise how "alien" the JTFB is. But increasingly astronomers and astrophysicists are asserting that other intelligent tool using life forms will probably in fact have a very similar body form to humans, will "look like us" as one British scientist put it. I realized then that we are asserting ownership of a body form that is likely not at all unique to us, but one which we may share with thousands or millions of other species, so perhaps (in fact probably) we are the "rubber suit aliens," because what are the chances that we are the very first species to develop this form? Virtually infinitesimal, in all probability.

So I flipped it and had the bipedal life forms predominate with the other life forms making up the minority, and often needing special tech to survive on par with our type of bipeds.

The centipede alien in team three…needs…no, must be expanded upon…a whole line just for them.

The Vulk…how could this not already be on the list to expand?

The Slahnah is most intriguing…I like this little squishy.

But increasingly astronomers and astrophysicists are asserting that other intelligent tool using life forms will probably in fact have a very similar body form to humans

Hmmm, I find that assertion hard to believe. Just on this planet alone we have body plans that resemble us, but also body plans for things like spiders, octopi and so on. Even among mammals our body plan is not typically. What, other then opposable thumbs, makes our body plan intrinsically superior to others for intelligent life? I think those astronomers need to have a chat with a zoologist. ;)

In any event, still glad you included non-humanoid types and definitely hope we see yet more.

-Will

Hmmm, I find that assertion hard to believe. Just on this planet alone we have body plans that resemble us, but also body plans for things like spiders, octopi and so on.

How many of those leave the planet's atmosphere and travel to other celestial bodies?

Here's one example of the recent trend in thought about spacefaring alien types:

link

It's just one example -- in fact many other scientists are coming to the same conclusion, including Steven Hawking.

If anything Jon, your final choice is a solid compromise. Your release offers enough weird with the familiar to really hit the mark.

I feel that your end result is likely to appeal to a broader audience than your initial plan might have.

As for what astronomers are saying, I'd tend to agree that you need bring in zoologists, biologists, and even anthropologists into the mix for a really true picture.

They may be right, they may be wrong. I know that I have run into deadends trying to develop the evolution of alien races I've created (yes I do this) for RPGs and such. I got one all the way through but couldn't figure out how to make the jump to tool use. The progenitor species just didn't seem to need them.

-Eli

HA! I just noticed the Camaran has two sets of arms!

Wait, is the heavy in the third team a Garn!?

-Eli

Yes

Awesome.

Whatever your design team is smoking, double the order