Prodos Games ill fated AvP “Alien vs Predator - The Hunt Begins” Kickstarter finally delivers the pledges.

“The Boxed Game AvP – The Hunt Begins is a self-contained gaming experience, a fusion of mission and narrative driven Board Game and Table Top War Game. A family game where 1 or more players can sit down and play through their own narrative and develop their own characters and objectives over many inter-linked games. Or players can sit down and play a ‘free for all’ with games like ‘Survival’, ‘Last human/Alien/Predator standing’, ‘capture the objective’ etc. filling an hour or two of your evening or raining Sunday afternoon.” from the above linked site.

I pledged and got really frustrated over the years, at some moments I was really angry. But in the end Prodos delivered a superb product. Incredible well proportioned minis in a very user friendly resin (glues like a charm with super glue, nearly indestructible and still keeps the shape). Even the game rules makes a good impression, not to mention the game components! So after receiving the game 3 days ago I started with some Alien stalkers to try some speed painting techniques, the minis are finished under 25 Mins each.

Some detail shots of the Stalker (Alien III) Alien. I primed it with FoW British Armour (Desert), after that just a hint of white primer on top.

Then a Citadel Reikland Fleshshade and some Agrax Earthshade here and there. After drying a very light dry brush in white, then Enamel glossy clear.

The black Aliens are even simpler, black primer, boltgun brushwork, nuln oil wash, very light drybrush in silver, glossy varnish.

 Done.

Alien Infants - aka the Alien from Alien I

The 5 “Infants” received the same simple paint treatment as the black Stalkers above. So again black primer, boltgun brushwork, nuln oil wash, very light dry brush in silver. Only difference, before the glossy varnish I gave the minis a thinned layer of Citadels Guilliman Blue Glaze.

2nd batch of Aliens, this time I could not resist and make one stand out, the famous “grid” Alien from the AvP movie. Grid was a smooth-domed Xenomorph Drone spawned during the ill-fated Weyland Expedition to Bouvetøya. Grid was responsible for killing the Predator Scar's brothers and clanmates Chopper and Celtic, and was able to escape being shot by Scar's plasma caster attacks.

Alien Warriors - aka the Alien from Alien II

The so called Warrior Aliens - detail picture below, the minis are as good as the Infant sculpts!

And a comparison shot with a current GW Genestealer. Amazing how undetailed the GW plastic looks!

2nd batch of Warriors, to make them look more like the Royal Guard Alien I also gave them an extra Blue Glaze.

Alien Royal Guard

“Elite Guards are larger than typical Soldiers, they also have large long pointed headcrests that somewhat resembles the Queen Mother's. Royal Guards possess a pair of long horn-like tines between their mouth, as well as having another pair of them as their inner jaws.

Elite Guards possess a large amount of strength, allowing them easily rip practically anything apart as displayed when the Elite Guards ripped through the APC and the power loaders equipped by Ripley's team, which were made out of alloy steel with little effort.

In the event that the Queen Mother dies, the Elite Guards will together form a giant cocoon to create a new one as the Aliens cannot survive without a leader in the hiveworld. The Cocoon will eventually molt into a new Queen Mother with the aid of royal jelly in the Queen's chamber, becoming the Aliens' new leader and retaining order within the hiveworld.” from alienanthology.wikia.com

A creature from the expanded background. Similar size as the Queen mini, so some additional effort was a good idea.

I painted the mini more or less identical as the Warriors, the drybrush and highlights were just applied with that extra bit of care suitable for such an extraordinary mini.

A group shot together with this weeks Warriors.

Yautja Predators

KS exclusive female Predator - again a very good sculpt, IMO a bit thin for a bulky Pred, so I decided to make her look even more gaunt, ripped abs and all.

The Yautja, known as the Predators, are an extraterrestrial species characterized by their hunting of other dangerous species for sport and honour, including humans. The Yautja are a sentient, humanoid race that breathe an atmosphere similar to that of Earth's, but possess a level of technological advancement far in excess of anything available to humans.

Group shot with Alien Infant and Marine

The Predators stalk and kill their prey using a combination of highly advanced technology, such as active camouflage and energy weapons, combined with traditional ancient weapons, such as blades, spears and nets. The Predators often ritualistically mutilate their victims and usually claim a trophy from their kills.

Capable of interstellar travel in star ships, the Predators have hunted on Earth for centuries and have also had prior contact with the Engineers. They have been known to deliberately breed Xenomorphs in order to hunt them, often as part of initiation rituals for young Predators. (from avp.wikia.com)

Comparison shot with Heresy Predator and HorrorClix Predator

HorrorClix Predator repaint

The Predalien

"A Predalien (or PredAlien) is a Xenomorph spawned from a Yautja. Amongst the most notable results of the Xenomorph's DNA reflex, the Predalien takes more clearly after its Yautja host, sharing physical features such as dreadlocks, mandibles and lighter skin coloration. They are lethal combatants, often seen to possess strength far in excess of human-spawned Xenomorphs owing to the greater physical prowess of their hosts, a trait the Predalien subsequently inherits and enhances. They are apparently rare and are regarded by the Yautja as abominations and an insult to their species.
The Predalien is notable for being the only Xenomorph caste created in the expanded universe to have subsequently crossed over into the official film franchise, first appearing on-screen (in Chestburster form) at the end of Alien vs. Predator. The adult creature was then seen in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. Predaliens had previously featured extensively in the video games and comic books of the Alien vs. Predator franchise." from avp.fandom.com

Prodos Predalien

Colonial Marines

I finally finished two more Marines, the Smart gunner and the Medic.

The Smart gunner is simply assembled and painted as the Assault Rifle Marine below. The “Fever” decal is from an old Gear Krieg US walker, the skull is from the master of all things skullish, GW!

The Medic looked somehow a bit female to me. The arms are a bit thinner. By sheer accident I stumbled over the female Marine conversion by Freefallrlc and really liked it. And since I also had some Statuesque female heads around, I converted the mini also. The spare helmet was attached to the belt.

The Marine took longer to paint. The mini is again a wonderful sculpt, very realistic proportioned and full of detail.

How to paint a Queen

Above I shortly described the process how I painted my Aliens, since I received a lot of questions about it, here is a small pictured “tutorial”.

Step 1

a - Clean the model, assemble the model, black matt undercoat.

b - Basic dry brush (here with GW Citadel Leadbelcher)

Step 2

Give it all a good wash (1 or 2 times applied), here I use 1x GW Citadel Nuln oil.

If you are really in a hurry, stop here, apply a glossy varnish and be happy!

Step 3

Give it all another wash , I use 1x GW Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade, very dark , only a subtle blue tone.

Maybe apply a dry brsuh in between, up to your taste.

Step 4

Final very light drybrush in a lighter metal colour. I used GW Citadel Ironbreaker.

I also worked on the base, more or less the same steps.

Step 5

Final finishing touches:

I paint the nails in silver.

I apply some silver edge highlights here and there.

I give the whole mini a solid glossy varnish - Revell enamel clear glossy.

DONE!

Alien I space suit

I only recently discovered some nice AvP related minis on etsy. I ordered some out curiosity and was very positive surprised!

Pictured above is a Colonial Space Guard "XB GN-3V-A" by Papsikels Miniatures for 32 mm Wargaming Tabletop printed in resin. The other minis are from the Prodos KS!

Weyland Yutani Commandos

I also started work on the WY Commandos and I was just BLOWN away by the sheer casting quality.

Just check out the ring on the chest armour. I just could not believe it, the mini is a two part casting, body is one piece and the arms and flame-thrower is the other piece!

Prodos still managed to cast that quality on a one piece body. They may have mishandled the KS, but their minis are simply some of the best around!

Colonial Defense Forces

“In the minds of most spacefarers, the words, “Colonial Defense Force” conjure images of tough as nails elite soldiers with the skills and the training to get the job done. Known colloquially as The CDF, these rapid response troopers are collected from the best candidates from dozens of different worlds. Clad in advanced armor and armed with the latest in pulse-weaponry, the CDF are only called in whenever the stakes are high or when things look hopeless. They often form the first line of defense on the frontiers of colonized space.

As CDF platoons are made up of soldiers from diverse worlds with disparate cultures, it takes strong leadership to get them coordinated like a well-oiled machine. CDF Officers are known for their combination of harsh discipline and keen insight into the psyche of their troops. Being a member of the CDF means putting your life on the line on a daily basis, frequently while many light-years from home. It takes a strong will to handle that kind of job. There’s a reason the CDF are considered the best.

One of the most decorated CDF rapid response teams is the A-86 “Bug Stompers”. During the Harook Wars, they were instrumental in liberating Persus IV. Harook forces had isolated and pinned down the Kurgan forces originally sent in. Under the cover of a meteor shower, CDF Gunnery Sergeant Apollo Mathews lead a small platoon of landers behind enemy lines and sabotaged the power generators at the Harook base. The resulting chaos cost Mathews an arm but it also gave the Harook enough of a distraction for the Kurgan to launch a counter-attack. The heavily-demoralized defenders fled. With the beachhead at Persus IV abandoned, the Harook no longer had a foothold in Federated space. The A-86 "Bug Stompers" essentially turned the tide in the Harook Wars.” from Mad Robot website

These are minis from Mad Robot of the Colonial Defense Force troopers. The parts are made from resin and are 28mm heroically scaled.

I am deeply impressed by the quality of these small market resin minis, perfect fit, perfect casting! Absolutely recommended if you want generic, tough as nails deep space Marines! We live indeed in splendid times with many quality minis around. For the Gunner and Squad Leader I chose a slightly different camo colour palette. The green was the base colour this time. As usual, the more you paint minis the more you see flaws are strengths. With these minis - only positive observations, I just love the metal prosthetic left arm.

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