Prints and WIPS

The scale of choice for our Ma.K battles is 6mm.  Really darn small, some even call it "braille scale".  As no dedicated models are for sale from licensed merchants for the scale we have been making our own via 3d modeling and home printing.  The first few models, such as the below Sandstalker 232M, were made on my Epax 1x resin printer and I thought they came out quite well at the time.

Unfortunately I developed a pretty severe allergy to the liquid resin.  Anyone who has worked with the stuff knows that it is almost impossible to keep it from getting onto various surfaces or even your own skin. It's like magic, just appears in places it shouldn't be.  Luckily a friend has a really well dialed in Anycubic Photon which we will be using form here on out.  It really does an excellent job, as evidenced by these Pk40 Fledermaus and hover transports (based on a fan design by incredibly talented Maschinen Kruger).

The landing legs of the flyers are incredibly delicate, and I managed to 'ping' away a couple while removing supports both pre and post curing.  But look how fantastic they came out!  My Epax just couldn't get this sharp of detail and I may reprint some of my earlier models to get this standard.

More WIPs to come!

The Broken Hill Front

    World War VI was quite devastating for the Earth.  Not much more is said on this topic in the official SF3D/Ma.K background info, but for our campaigns we did a little chatting and decided that there was probably a small nuclear winter which gave way to an intense greenhouse type warming.  Melting ice caps flooded the old coasts, changed weather patterns and redistributed airborne soil and debris which could radically change environments.  Thus the healed Earth can be a bit different than the one we currently live on.

    Our first campaign is taking place in the official timeline in old Australia but in a backwater area of little importance.   There are 3 areas of concentrated military activity which can be called Conflict Zones.       

The Digger Conflict Zone juts into the new inland sea, called The Eyre Sea.  The IMA (Independent Mercenary Army) hold several mines and ore processing centers at the moment, but with the SDR having recently installed a new aerial warning and defense system in Northern Australia the continued IMA resupply by giant seaplanes and spaceplanes will become much more difficult.

 The Adelaide Breach Conflict Zone straddles with entrance into the shallow Mungo Gulf.  Having a spaceport with protected anchorages has allowed the SDR to maintain a strong foothold on both sides of the breach.  Newly arriving units are being fed from here northwards into the Digger zone, putting pressure on the IMA forces and holdings in that zone.

    At the start of our campaign it is September of 2884, the IMA  has most of the Canberra Conflict Zone under control with some SDR units holding out in a New Canberra under siege.  As the the noose tightens on the city the IMA Command has begun shifting forces to other areas, including reinforcing the North American armies.    This dispersion, coupled with the SDR advance from Port Adelaide, have brought our troops into conflict in the far flung edge of the Broken Hill Front.

    
 The above map is a very simplified form showing the various movement zones we are utilizing, as well as the general terrain type within these zones.  As there were both surviving records and continuous habitation of the area many of the place names have remained the same over the centuries (though they may not represent a future version of the original places).  This region was once very dry and scrubby, dotted with greatly distanced sheep grazing stations/farms.  Now there is a much greater abundance of jungle and forest as well as rich grasslands and agricultural areas.  The mines north of Broken Hill are once again in full production, with the facilities at Port Tandou providing easy export.  This area has been almost untouched by conflict, with the minimal SDR and IMA forces mostly acting to keep an eye on developments in the areas and only conducting patrol and harassment operations against each other when encountered.  A sort of "gentlemen's war" has been conducted between these long range patrol forces, with very limited combat and almost no collateral damage inflicted to infrastructure or civilian properties.  So far...

 

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY LEADING TO THE WAR FOR EARTH

 

    Humanity has spread to the stars.  After centuries of conflict the various polities formed the Galactic Federation which curbs the majority of expansionism and fighting.   But human nature being what it is means that conflicts didn't stop occurring, they just became internal, often only coming to an end after the intervention of foreign peacekeeping forces sent by the Galactic Federation.  Unfortunately for Earth, sometimes Galactic Federation intervention is decided upon too late.  World War VI was ultra destructive and laid waste to the planet, forcing those who survived to abandon humanities birthplace in the late 2600's and never look back.  After all, nothing viable was left, Mother Earth was now just a dead shell.

    Or so it was thought.

    It turns out that life is tenacious, and the earth healed.  Even the people that were left behind or that stubbornly refused to evacuate with the masses were able to survive, if not flourish.   In 2852 Galactic Federation authorities discovered that a cabal of merchantmen had been visiting the "poisoned world" for decades, trading with the remaining populace quite successfully.  Within 3 years a survey of the planet was conducted, though official recolonization was withheld as more study was dictated.  This lack of permission did not stop adventurous types from making the journey to resettle the home world in dribbles and drabs, nor did it stop the larger follow-on waves and corporate backed ventures.  

    Very quickly those living on Earth achieved an incredibly high standard of living which could not be ignored.  The Galactic Federation was forced to recognize that an unregulated Earth could become an economic problem and declared the planet an "economic development zone" of the Federation, assigning a proxy-administrator but withholding any citizenship benefits and rights from residents or businesses.  Heavy taxes were levied and economic controls were emplaced, and local dissatisfaction exploded into directly hindering the administration.  With control slipping the Galactic Federation turned the governance of Earth over to the Strahl Democratic Republic (also called the SDR or Shuttoral) in 2877, and they immediately sent a peacekeeping force from the SDR Foreign Legion.  Order was quickly restored, but at the cost of extreme restrictions on the public.  The end result of was chaffing against this authoritarianism which began with protests and graduated to attacks against the SDR forces. Further and more drastic crackdowns fanned the flames higher resulting in a 2882 declaration of independence for the planet and a call going out across human space for the aid of mercenaries and freedom fighters.  

    The new war for Earth had begun.

 

***For more extensive backgrounds, timelines, some really cool information and stats that can be used for playing the 1980's era SF3D boardgames check out this link:  SF3D gaming