Vorl in Antares

The free, Antares 2 SF, tabletop wargame Rick and I maintain has recently had a real boost in the release of the long-awaited Vorl, designed by the talented sculpture Joey Pruitt. The species is very different and plays differently to the humans in that setting. What’s great is that these continue and help set the tone for the future of the game in that they are released in free, 3D-print-ready format (.stls and, due to the kind efforts of Jon Harrington, pre-supported, 3-up, Chitubox format).

The digest post for the Vorl and associated articles can be found here on the website for the game, the Antares Nexus (also on WordPress).

The release of the Vorl is something we’ve wanted for a while as the Vorl Ordo are a major faction in the Antares universe, having about a fifth of the total number of Antarean gates under their control (see the map: there are more gates around the equator than at higher/lower latitudes). They have also been an enemy of panhumans for many ages, such enmity driven much more by a biological necessity than a random hatred – such motivations generally being important in Antares.

We’ve had players release other .stls already – a couple of transports and a few smaller pieces (see here), but this release fills in a gap in the figures available that was there from the beginning of the game. It would be nice to see more free .stls released, and we may have a few lined up, but just the release of a core species that fleshes out a hole in the universe’s backstory really is a delight (they are wonderful sculpts, too!).

A new state of affairs

There’s been a lot happening in the last six months. In the same week I was referred for quick-response cancer assessment, I was told I would be made redundant, along with other people from my workplace, and that the games line I was working on would be wound up. Interesting times!

But things aren’t all black. I’ve had interviews for other jobs, and one is in the pipeline (though redundancy pay has been used up!). Rick Priestley and I (see the Nexus About page) discussed continuing the wargames rules with a new edition outside Warlord Games. Rick also persuaded Warlord to shift the production of existing items in the line to their sister company, Skytrex, so the game would not go into hibernation.

So, Antares 2 was born. Warlor allowed me to work on it whilst I worked out my notice, then Rick and I released it in a free, downloadable format that was designed to be easy to maintain. I also created a new WordPress-based, wiki-like website for the 2nd edition (see What’s New in V2) with free, downloadable army lists and a lot of new material – as well as revamped versions of the existing articles.

Whilst Skytrex is not producing new items apart from those already in the pipeline (a scurrilous reprobatee called Dirag and new versions of the Isorian phase troopers – to be released in July), there is an opportunity: 3D printing and .stls. Whilst Rick and I are not using this as a commercial concern, the prevalence of 3D printers amongst the hobby community has meant we’ve been able to allow players to produce their own 3D prints for items that don’t exist: the free, downloadable .stls mean we can let players print their own…

This is fantastic. The Vorl have been a major presence in the Antares universe since it was launched, but have never been released. We got in touch with Joey Pruitt, a designer in the states, who is an Anatres fan and has already produced some interesting insects. He designed us some excellent Vorl – and very strange they are, too. In fact, so strange, have a look at these speed-painted by Ruben Lopez Catalan. For Rick and I it’s a wonderful sight, one that is likely to give Antares 2 a boost, but it’s also a step along a new paradigm, one in which games are free, models are what players want (some players still prefer plastic or metal, and that’s fine – it’s easier to produce some in those formats, too).

Of course, I now have to design and test the Vorl army list. But it’s all good fun and we’ll just have to see how this new adventure goes!

Vorl speed-painted by Ruben Lopez Catalan

Dronescourge Pre-Order

Yes, it’s absolutely a relief to see a supplement finally out on pre-order. I mentioned The Taking of TOR 563 recently, but that was just a fiction lead-up to my latest book, a supplement for the ‘Beyond the Gates of Antares’ game by Warlord Games – The Dronescourge Returns.

To say ‘my’ is a bit of misnomer. Whilst the design, writing, testing was by or organised by me, the production of a full-colour book like this needs loads of graphic artists, painters, and quite technical proof readers. It is agroup effort, and the design studio did a great job on the interiors as well as coming up for the look of the dangerous drone race at the core of the narrative: the Virai Dronescourge. Some of the work they did can be seen in the snapshot below.

If you’re interested in the models, then the first starter force (a swarm) is already up on the Warlord’s site: the Starter Swarm. There is a huge amount of background information about them already on the Antares Nexus knowledge base, with more to come (I know, I wrote it).

Another book release. It’s a huge releif to be back on the writing road, again.

The Taking of TOR 563 Serial

I’ve been quiet on here, but it’s simply because I’ve been busy. There’s a number of serialised novellettes coming out to support the release of the supplement I wrote, The Dronescourge Returns.

The first of these episodic tales is ‘The Taking of TOR563’ and is published on the Warlord Games Antares Nexus, right here: https://www.gatesofantares.com/taking-tor-563-part-i/.

There’s a lot more to do – hope you enjoy!

Freeborn and Family

Another novelette has been released in the saga of Batu and Baray in the Beyond the Gates of Antares universe. This time, we discover how Batu got his terrifying drone and how the cloud of bionanocytes he carries – and fears – was awakened, as well as why he is considered such a threat to the Isorian Senatex.

The novellete is called Freeborn and Family and is in PDF format accessible from this overview page. If it’s difficult to see, it can be downloaded directly from the Warlord Games website.

I’ve also built a Kindle .mobi format file that can be downloaded to a kindle directly or emailed to your amazon kindle account from your your own, approved emailed address.

Batu and Baray’s adventures started in The Claiming of Shamasai, continued in the Open Signal anthology and on the Beyond the Gates of Antares website (coming soon: to be assigned). Other stories include the series in Plaguespore, set in the timei between Shamasai and Family.

The Chryseis Shard: Plaguespore

I’ve recently written a new serial and an accompanying short in preparation for Warlord Games’ new supplement, The Chryseis Shard. Once more, the series involves Batu and Baray, both key characters in The Chryseis Shard, and introduces readers to some of the capabilities of Batu’s annoying nano drone – now a sort of personal daemon.

All parts of the serial and the Chryseis prequel are now available on the Warlord website. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this development in a small part of the Antares universe.

• Plaguespore Part I – Batu is ordered to investigate the disturbing disappearance of a Concord colony
• Plaguespore Part II – Further details are uncovered of a devastating new threat to the Concord: the Plaguespore
• Plaguespore Part III – Batu and Baray uncover some sinister truths about the Plaguespore and suspect a military mind is behind it all
• Plaguespore Part IV – The pair interrogate the colony survivors and travel to the surface to investigate
• Plaguespore Part V – The plaguespoe attacks and Batu’s Shamasai Shard is forced to respond
• A Heads Up – After being kdinapped by the Isorians – and escaping – Batu is forced into exile but he and Baray are contacted by a NuHu Mandarin over an uncomfortable turn of events in the Chryseis system. A meeting is arranged…