EPTStar Tale: Ground Wars is the name given to the strategy game parts of the overall Star Tale project. It was introduced in a previous blog here:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/532024-star-tale-ground-wars
The Game Board
The standard playing area is 144 x 96 tiles, with each tile being 1 centimetre squared.
However, any kitchen table, coffee table, or floor space will do.
You can see the standard battlefield is a 3:2 ratio playing area.
Many tabletop wargamers have 6 foot by 4 foot or 180cm x 120cm boards.
You can use these to play Star Tale: Ground Wars just fine.
If you want to get really fancy, instead of using centimetres you can use a different unit of measurement called sen. 1 sen = 12 millimetres. This makes your game board 172.8 centimetres by 115.2 centimetres (pretty close to the traditional standard 180 x 120cm).
But you dont need to worry about that. Just playing on your kitchen table with a ruler or tape measure is totally fine.
Scale
Star Tale: Ground Wars uses a 1:600 scale ratio (3mm scale) for models.
-Practical (can fit the number of desired units on small tables)
-Looks good
-Easy to store
-Easy to paint
-Cheap
-Can use models from larger scale ranges as large mechs/vehicles etc.
-3d printers are now capable of making good models at this size.
Miniatures
You can buy and paint up some models to form your army from various shops, but you dont have to (see later paragraph below).
3mm scale models are much cheaper than the larger models, you may find you can create a whole army for $65/£50.
Another option is to 3d print models. This is very cheap, and the quality is high these days. There are lots of 3mm sci fi designs online.
The recommendation is to base your models on 3mm thick laser cut MDF rectangles.
Again this is very cheap, you can buy packs of bases for a low price.
Painting at this scale is fast and cheap. The models are small and viewed from a distance so they dont need lots of detail if you dont want to.
You can spray a batch of models at once, and the models only need a base coat, and then a primary colour. You can do a highlight accent colour or two if you want.
At this scale its a good idea to use a bright primary colour to make the units stand out from the background.
Remember the Callisto (space marine super soldier dudes) come in a variety of colours. And there is creative space for personalising your Callisto beyond the stock 6 colours too (havent explained this part yet).
See previous blog: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/529386-star-tale-factions
Put all your vehicles on bases, not just infantry. This makes all your army look better as they stand at the correct height.
It also protects your vehicles better (particularly tank barrels that can stick out).
And you can use the base to have a complimentary opposite colour to your units to make them stand out.
If you want to use 2mm scale models for large infantry squads that is ok.
Also, if you want to use only a few infantry models on a base to represent a larger number of soldiers that is ok as long as its consistent and clear for your opponent.
If you want to play with 6mm scale models you can try, although for infantry you might prefer to make counters.
To play Star Tale: Ground Wars you dont have to collect miniatures and paint them though.
You can simply cut out rectangles of cardboard to represent your squads and vehicles.
By writing, drawing, colour coding or using symbols you can clearly mark your units.
Or you can print pictures onto the cardboard.
If you have 3mm MDF wooden bases, you dont have to put models on them and can instead just paint directly onto the wood, using symbols and colours etc to mark your units.
This can be especially useful for small but densely packed infantry squads.
So thats some more information about Star Tale: Ground Wars. As always, everything is public domain. You are free to use anything however you wish. See you next month on the 12th.
