Grey Deep Space Explorer Fleet

So my girlfriend is a big fan of X-Com: Enemy Unknown. I thought she'd like her own little X-Com wargame set, so I got her some minis (an upcoming post).




For the sectoids, I used a set of Rebel Minis 15mm Alien Greys (Armed). I'm a big fan of Rebel Minis because of their platoon-sized packs. This blister gets you 22 Greys, for $10.95. This was plenty for X-Com.



Here's how they came out:

More minis were inbound for this project. While waiting for them, I figured I'd get some glue on my hands. Greys have a great pulpy feel: why not give them some ships? Not for X-Com, but just silly, 1950s, atomic scifi games. This quickly spiraled into a full on army.

A cheapskate army, to be sure.



I did a few sketches: I wanted an OTT, Imperialist, Invader Zim feel. These Greys needed to take themselves a too seriously. I figured bold vanes, grasping tentacles, and looming-doom would work.

Cardboard; bottle tops; Mechwarrior bases; and Dark Eldar bitz were what I had lying around at the time. Here's what I came up with.

 The obvious question here, is where are the bubble-top canopies? I'd love to have had those. For whatever reason, I've not seen a single one anywhere in this country. I've been looking for those, all over.

For years.

I'm probably going to have to source some on Ebay, and keep them aside.


Scout Craft 
Nice and simple. Bottle tops on Mechwarrior bases. They're drilled underneath to accept a standard, GW, flying base. A based Grey fit's inside them nicely.

Abductor Transports
Fire/Science Teams gotta ride in style, yo.

Note the bold vanes, made out of simple cardboard. They're angled to look menacing, and excessively tall to convey arrogance. Grasping, biomechanoid, tentacles are essential for abducting cattle and bumpkins.  The Dark Eldar tentacles (from the Talos kit) were perfect.

Science Mothership
The brooding, deadly, mothership. The only rounded thing I could find was - well - the top of a deodorant bottle. While gross and distracting to an opponent once pointed out, that's not why it's here. It's here because it's critical. It's the only spherical component in the entire army. If I couldn't have bubble-top canopies, then at least the mothership could look appropriate.

It's got four Dark Eldar guns, but that's just for show. In game, it'll hide in a corner and rain down indirect fire (artillery). It's bottom is from a laptop cooler. It looks pretty cool underneath, but unfortunately, that's underneath.

And that's pretty much it! Here are some vanity shots of the fleet. The special lady is quite delighted with them. I expect she'll be annihilating me with them, this weekend. 

Thanks for reading!

Navin