A Robotech Oddyssey

At Hotlead  back in March i bought the Robotech RPG tactics boxed set.  this game has sentimental value for me two-fold.

1)  When i was 6 (in 1987) my family was shopping in Toronto.  now shoping in my family was always a big deal becasue i have 2 older sisters, and they were 12 and 14 at the time. because I was  well behaved my mother bought me this cool toy.  it turned out to be a Robotech Zentraedi Tactical battlepod with a 5" pilot action figure.  It was really cool.

2)  when i started gaming what I was 12, my first game was battle tech.  I got the 3rd edition battletech boxed set and the 10th anniversary Compendium for Christmas.  the 3rd edition box is the one that came with 16 mech, all of which would later become the Unseen mechs (a good deal of which were actually directly lifted from Robotech).

 Robotech RPG tactics, as a purchase, was mostly fueled by nostalgia.  however I found the models to be great fun to paint, and the rules are delightfully good.  I missed the ongoing trainwreck which  Kickstarter  is apparently turning out to be.

As almost everyone knows by now, Palladium made some bizarre choices as to how to split up the models on the sprues.   the Zentraedi models, so far are not much more complicated then your average GW plastic model.   the UEDF destroids  range from about as easy as the Zentraedi to a little more complicated.   but the UEDF Valkyries are just silly.  each Valkyrie ash 3 models to represent the 3 modes you can transform into.  only the fighter mode is straightforward and simple.  the Guardian/gerwalk mode has some serious arm issues, and Battloids are between 15 and 17 pieces depending on which variant your are assembling.  The only good thing about the battloids being in so many pieces is that it's easier to convert new poses.

I decided i was going to do my UEDF forces in a Israeli theme.  I love the Israeli 3tone camo.  So i modeled my Valkyries after the  IAF 106 "Spearhead" Squadron.  I have yet to print off the squadron decals and apply them but i intend to.

VFA-106 "Speahead" Squadron

 the UEDF ground forces(destroids) are useing teh IDF armoured markings.  I decided to Model the 71st Armored Battalion, of the 188th Armoured Brigade. I've taken some liberties with the nicknames. Each battalion in the brigade is named after some sort of weather phenomena, so I've dropped that down the the company level(since my game "squadrons" are going to be companies). 

1st "Tornado" Company of the 71st Armoured Brigade

At the moment I have 4 of each destroid, but no Defenders(Riflemen) or Phalanx(Longbows)  painted yet.  they will be arranged into 3 companies.  th 1st "Tornado" Company will be 2 tomahawks and 4 Spartans. the 2nd "" Company will be 2 tomahawks and 2 Defenders, and the 3rd "Monsoon" Company will be 4 Phalanx and 2 Defenders.


My zentraedi will be fairly vanilla.   I have not come up with a theme for them yet.  I'm thinking I may not come up with one at all, since they are Zentaedi.  They don't strike me as particularly individualistic or as having a great deal of character.

2 Glaug Command Pods and a Recovery pod.

2 Recon battlepods and 2 tactical battlepods.

I have 18 Tactical battlepods  4 artilelry battlepods, 2 Recon battlepods, 2 GlauG command pods and 2 recovery pods.  I have to really work on painting more battlepods to get a solid game in.